Summer Days of Blue Rain
by Syncogon
Summary: [全职高手／The King's Avatar] A Glory prodigy with fast hands and a faster mouth. A hidden genius with crippled hands and no potential. These are the beginnings of the legend of Blue Rain's Sword and Curse. [includes translated prequel scenes]
1. The Kill-Stealing Prodigy

"Blue Brook Guild, this isn't the last you've seen of me!" It had been a cheesy thing to say, suited to be uttered by the incompetent villain of a children's cartoon. Huang Shaotian's mouth outputted words faster than his brain could process them, so a lot of what came out ended up being nonsense. That's just the way he was.

In this case, though, that simple declaration, uttered the first time Blue Brook had killed him for trying to kill-steal one of their BOSSes, turned out to be surprisingly prophetic.

Of course, Team Blue Rain and Blue Brook Guild were separate entities, and as a mere member of Blue Rain's training camp, Huang Shaotian didn't have much reason to interact with the guild. But still, here he was, training to hopefully become a full-fledged member of the Glory professional team. No longer would he be competing with Blue Brook for a BOSS kill; instead he'd be _relying_ on Blue Brook to get BOSS kills, and succeed in all its other endeavors. It was certainly a shift in perspective, after spending so much time strategizing how to thwart this large guild.

The biggest change came from having to think of his biggest enemy, the sneaky Blue Brook guild leader who was unashamed of using cheap tactics and ganging up on a lone player with a group of a hundred, as his new superior. These were two very different identities, and the issue was further complicated by Huang Shaotian's general contempt for being told what to do. Wei Chen was a relaxed leader, fortunately, and didn't blink at Huang Shaotian's frequent bouts of disrespect and overall disregard for authority.

But now that they weren't constantly fighting each other, Huang Shaotian discovered that he actually quite liked Old Wei's playstyle. Not that he'd ever admit it to the guy's face, of course, but there was something immensely satisfying in watching him set traps for his opponents. Huang Shaotian had no interest in playing a slow-paced role like that himself – he much preferred the quick, purely damage-based Blade Master, thank you very much – but teaming up with a Warlock seemed like great fun. Even just watching these matches, Huang Shaotian loved searching for the potential opportunities where he, an outside party, could dart in, strike, and dart out before the opponent even had a chance to blink.

It was all the thrill of kill-stealing bosses, without the moral drawbacks. It was addicting. _Glory_ was addicting, and he loved every second of it. He'd play it every second if it were allowed here – hm, were the computers locked at night? Maybe he should try sneaking some extra playtime in while everyone was sleeping…

Well, overall at least, training camp was pretty great. What better way to spend your days than doing something you loved? Old Wei had offered, and he'd jumped at the opportunity, throwing away his studies with hardly a second thought – he was never really cut out for school anyway, nothing moved quickly enough for his interest.

The only drawback – or, well, the main one at least, was that he couldn't spend _all_ his time just playing Glory. As a trainee, he had a strict schedule and various other responsibilities and assignments and whatnot that interrupted his play.

For example, right now – every morning began the same way, with one of the training camp leaders briefing them on their goals for the day, what the schedule looked like, expectations, assignments, yada yada yada. It was only five minutes, true, but it felt like _hours_ , sitting there and fidgeting, wishing he could get his fingers on a keyboard and mouse.

The training leader droned on – and people said _he_ talked too much, Huang Shaotian thought with a barely suppressed groan. At least things were interesting when it was Old Wei speaking to them. The captain was much more open to heckling from the audience, a fact of which Huang Shaotian took gleeful advantage, which then often led into verbal sparring matches that were highly amusing to audience and participants alike.

Alas, today it was just some Club staff member; Blue Rain's captain was too busy to deal with the trainees on a regular basis. Huang Shaotian tuned out and let his gaze wander around the room, across the faces of his various fellow trainees.

He had spoken to all of them at some point or another, a side effect of talking a lot in general, and he had made good friends with a few of them. Bonding over a common interest was always a good way to meet people. And although Huang Shaotian knew he could be annoying at times (okay, a lot of the time), it was difficult for him to find himself annoyed by others.

Except for _that_ kid. Huang Shaotian's eyes stopped on one boy in particular, and narrowed.

Something about that dark-haired boy profoundly irritated Huang Shaotian. Maybe it was the way he didn't respond to taunts or trashtalk (Huang Shaotian wasn't a bully, okay? He insulted everyone equally; there were no hard feelings), or the way he wore that perpetual inscrutably calm expression no matter what happened.

Was he slow in the brain as well as with his hands? Did he not realize that he was just straight-up bad at Glory? What was he doing here, why did he keep struggling with something that so obviously didn't come naturally to him? Huang Shaotian just couldn't understand, and the few mostly-one-sided conversations he'd had with him hadn't been enlightening. Still, if Huang Shaotian searched hard enough inside himself, he found a bit of grudging respect for the other boy.

Well, in the end it didn't really matter; even though that boy had lasted to here, it was only a matter of time before he was eliminated.

Everyone was dispersing to their various computers – with a start, Huang Shaotian realized the staff member had finished talking. What were they doing now…? Huang Shaotian quickly tried to replay in his mind what he had just heard and ignored… elimination coming up soon… keep working hard… ah! They were starting off the day with 1v1 duels, his favorite!

Huang Shaotian slashed his account card through the reader and watched as the familiar figure of Troubling Rain appeared onscreen. He didn't have the best equipment, but he didn't need it to demonstrate his skill. Huang Shaotian was the indisputable, unquestionable number one of the training camp, and though he didn't _arrogantly_ flaunt his prowess, he didn't make any false pretenses at modesty.

"Let's go," he said, a grin creeping over his face. "Who's ready to get their ass kicked today?"

* * *

 **A/N** : This will be cross-posted on tumblr soonish probably, and ao3 maybe someday.

I haven't posted on ffn in so long... Hoping that the more places I post this, the more I'll be motivated to finish. Currently looking at maybe 9 chapters, a mix of completely original scenes (like this chapter) and scenes more closely based off the prequel - the difference will be made clear for each chapter.

Feedback always appreciated :)


	2. An Encounter Before the Sunrise

_A/N: Like the previous chapter, this one is entirely original fiction and does NOT come from the prequel. This is my interpretation of 16-year-old Yu Wenzhou's character; feel free to let me know if you think it's accurate :)_

* * *

 _Bzzt. Bzzt. Bz-_

Slipping a hand under his pillow, Yu Wenzhou shut off the alarm on his phone. Muffled by the pillow, the vibrations were enough to wake him without alerting his roommate.

He paused for a moment to confirm that the other boy was still breathing slowly and deeply, before carefully climbing out of bed. Using the dim light of his phone to guide him, he changed into his clothes, stuck his phone and wallet in his pockets, and crept out of the room.

As he made his way through the darkened corridors of Blue Rain's headquarters, he checked the time on his phone: 03:05 AM. That gave him about four hours before he had to be back in his room for the morning wake up call. He nodded to himself and kept walking.

The residential wing of the building was separate from all the training rooms, so Yu Wenzhou had to walk a decent distance to reach his destination. Blue Rain's official roster all had special computers in their own rooms in addition to their dedicated training areas, but the trainees had to go to their specific training room if they wanted to use a computer for Glory. The trainees didn't even have individual rooms to themselves, hence Yu Wenzhou's taking extra care not to wake his roommate. Not only would that be rude, it'd only worsen the disdain that he – and, well, everyone else at this training camp – had for Yu Wenzhou.

He stepped through the hallways carefully. Every footfall was as quiet as he could make it, and he strained his ears and eyes to catch any sign of motion, but the area, as always, was still. After all, any reasonable person would be asleep at this hour. And Yu Wenzhou, although fairly reasonable in every other aspect of his life, did not get as much sleep as he probably should.

Actually, this was early even for him. Normally he'd wake up at 4AM, train for as long as he dared, then hurry back to his room before the 7AM wake up call. But waking an hour earlier meant an extra hour for practice; four hours of sleep would suffice for him.

Yu Wenzhou had survived two rounds of selection so far, both barely, both mostly by luck. If he wanted to keep going, he was going to have to make sacrifices. This he decided yesterday, after a particularly brutal training session that seemed almost specifically designed to exploit his terrible handspeed.

Of course, it wasn't like anyone was _purposely_ out to get him; aside from his apparent incompetence, he was unremarkable. Most of those around him – fellow trainees and the training leaders and Blue Rain members – tended to ignore him, save for the occasional mocking comment or pitying look. No, he had no one to blame but himself for his failings, and he was going to fix it no matter what it took.

What would happen if he were eliminated? Would he have to go home? Admit to his family that they were right, that this passion of his wasn't a viable path, that he should have stuck to respectable studies instead of throwing away all his honors and awards to play computer games?

Yu Wenzhou reached the door to the training room wearing a scowl on his face. Distracted by these unpleasant musings, he didn't even notice the light spilling out from the crack under the door until he had half-turned the doorknob.

He leapt back as though burned.

Through some miracle he managed not to shout. But that didn't even matter, because the knob had clattered when he let go, sounding like a shot in the previous silence, and there was no way no one had heard that and someone would be coming any second he had to get away –

After he rounded the corner and paused to catch his breath, the rational side of his brain took over, and he kicked himself for overreacting. The sound hadn't been nearly as loud as he imagined, so the chances that someone outside heard were miniscule. As for the room's occupants… He watched for a tense minute, ready to duck and hide, but when there was no change, he let himself relax.

He let himself think.

It was now – he checked quickly – 3:09. Early hours of the morning, still a long way until even sunrise, let alone the time they trainees had to get up. Presumably whoever was in there, assuming there was someone at all, was a trainee. After all, this was the training room specifically reserved for them training camp members; a true Blue Rain team member would be practicing in their designated training room or in their own bedroom, both of which would have better, newer, faster computers. And others who might have reason to be in this room, like the various staff members employed by the club, certainly wouldn't have reason to be in there at this hour.

The fact that no one had reacted to the doorknob sound suggested that they were wearing a headset and playing Glory, and thus had limited hearing outside of the game. Also, Yu Wenzhou guessed that it was only one person, simply from the unconventional hour and the lack of noise that would indicate some sort of gathering.

So what now?

He should go back if he didn't want to get in trouble, just standing out here like this. Trainees did have a curfew at night – loosely enforced, but punishable nonetheless, and Yu Wenzhou was on thin ice as it were. But with that adrenaline rush just now, he doubted he'd be able to go back to sleep now even if he tried.

Curiosity won out, and he made his way back to the door of the training room. Now that he was listening, he heard something from inside, a voice talking, though it sounded like just one voice. The words were too indistinct to make out, though.

Yu Wenzhou recalled the configuration of the computers in the room. Nearly all of them faced away from the door, so there was a good chance that if he opened the door slowly, he might get to look inside, and see who, exactly, loved Glory so much that they just _had_ to play it at three in the morning.

He held his breath, twisted the doorknob, and slowly cracked it open.

At first, all he saw were the empty computers at the side of the room. He opened the door wider, muscles tense and ready to flee at any sign of movement.

And then he saw the person seated at a computer, facing away from the door, headset on.

A quick scan of the room told him that this was the only person here. And though his back was toward Yu Wenzhou, he recognized the other boy easily. Not just by his distinctively messy hair, but also by how he was loudly muttering and cursing with every click of the mouse and tap of the keyboard, a constant stream of words and taunts and attack names. Without the door in the way, Yu Wenzhou could more clearly distinguish what was being said, but, of course, that didn't really matter.

The talent personally recruited from the game by Blue Rain's captain, the number one in the training camp, the shoo-in for Blue Rain's main roster.

Huang Shaotian.

Yu Wenzhou stood there for an indeterminable amount of time, before eventually shutting the door and walking back toward his room, mind carefully blank. Only when he was back in his bed, safely under the covers, did he allow himself to think over what he had just seen.

Huang Shaotian playing Glory in the early hours of the morning. As always, Yu Wenzhou's mind raced through the implications of this brief encounter.

Yu Wenzhou had taken to practicing in the mornings starting around 4 or 5. The routine had started almost on accident, in fact – he'd woken up one day, unable to fall back asleep, then had wandered around the halls before ending up in front of the door to the training room. He had tried the handle, fully expecting it to be locked like most of the other rooms in the building after hours. But the door had swung open under his touch, then and every time after.

Initially he'd wondered as to why this room, out of all the others, had been left unlocked overnight. Weren't they concerned about someone using or breaking the computers? Yu Wenzhou had eventually stopped worrying about such things, instead dedicating this precious time to extra drills.

Now everything made a little more sense. The club staff definitely had access to records of computer usage, and the computers required a login so it would be obvious who the user was. Yu Wenzhou had assumed that he had gotten away with his early morning practices because the staff wasn't looking too closely at the records.

But maybe they _were_ aware. And maybe they allowed it because their precious prodigy was benefitting from this unlocked-room policy, and it wasn't worth the extra effort to stop this extra trainee. After all, this poor crippled deadlast was destined to fail out soon anyway, right? Who cared what he did?

Yu Wenzhou flipped over in bed so he was lying on his stomach, and clutched his pillow to his face. What did Huang Shaotian need the extra practice for anyway? He was already far beyond the rest of them in terms of skill. Everything always went his way – battles, evaluations, interactions. He was the favorite; he could get away with practically blatant insubordination and rule-breaking.

The image of Huang Shaotian playing just now was crystal clear in his mind. Such a sharp contrast from Yu Wenzhou's experience with early-morning practicing – always with the lights off, the screen brightness as dim as possible, sitting at the computer in the blind spot of the door, headphones awkwardly positioned on his head so that one ear was alert for any indication of someone approaching.

But it wasn't even just the difference in the precautions they took. Huang Shaotian had been practicing, yes, but there was an air of relaxed calm about it all. Even in the midst of his trash-talking, he was stable at his core. It was _nothing_ like the agitated desperation that accompanied Yu Wenzhou's practice sessions.

The fundamental difference was simply this: Huang Shaotian was secure in his abilities. Yu Wenzhou didn't have that luxury.

Yu Wenzhou was squeezing the pillow tighter and tighter, digging his fingernails into the rough fabric. You don't know what it's like, he thought. To run drills over and over until your fingers are numb and your vision is blurry; to suffer insults silently because you can't blame someone for simply speaking the truth; to put all your effort into something and have absolutely nothing to show for it. You _don't know_. And you'll never _have_ to know.

Fuck you, Huang Shaotian. Fuck you and your natural talent and insane handspeed and godly reflexes.

Yu Wenzhou had buried his face into the pillow to keep any sound – a frustrated yell, a choked sob – from escaping. But he eventually had to lift his head to take a breath, and when he did so, it was a slow and deliberate action.

… _Enough_ , he scolded himself. The self-pity, although emotionally satisfying, was unproductive.

He sighed, forcing himself to uncoil his limbs. He ruthlessly swiped at his eyes before turning over to lie on his back once again and stare at the dim ceiling.

It had been foolish to think that he'd become better than anyone else through sheer hard work and determination. _Everyone_ here was working hard; it was honestly insulting to suggest otherwise. And ultimately, it didn't matter how hard you worked if you never got results for it.

Quite frankly, Yu Wenzhou was never going to surpass anyone. Not like this.

In the midst of this revelation, a voice came to him, drifting up through his memories. Huang Shaotian's voice, loud and fast and brutally direct as always. "Why do you keep trying to do something you're so bad at?"

He'd said this after they'd been paired for a practice one-on-one match. It had in all likelihood been meant as nothing more than a simple insult at the time – give up, there's no point in continuing.

But maybe there was something there, a kernel of wisdom in that barbed question.

 _Why are you still here?_

Because I like Glory.

 _What do you even like about it?_

…

It was silly, wasn't it, liking something he was bad at? Wasn't there the saying, that you couldn't truly enjoy an activity until you mastered it? Could Yu Wenzhou really say that he enjoyed the mechanical aspect of the game, the fluid and rapid motions, the stream of actions and reactions?

…No. True, he'd worked so hard to improve this aspect of his play, and he didn't dislike it as he once might have. But, he could not honestly say that he _enjoyed_ it. So what kept him here, what did he like about this game?

As he pondered this, another memory surfaced, another voice speaking.

" _Glory isn't a single-player game_." Words of the man known as the Glory textbook, the Battle God, Ye Qiu. And what made Ye Qiu such a formidable player in the first place? It wasn't solely his mechanical skill; plenty of other proplayers would have surpassed him if that were the case.

Mechanical skill accounted for perhaps half of Ye Qiu's ability. The other half came from his skill as a tactician, his ability to read and control the flow of a battle, to play on his opponents' mental weaknesses and oversights. In a game as complex as Glory, this was crucial.

Maybe Yu Wenzhou would never be much use in a one-on-one match. But if he could lay out plans, orchestrate the overall progression of a match, craft opportunities that another player could seize, someone with good eyes and fast hands…

A name and face came to mind immediately. But Yu Wenzhou knew, his level was still far below what would be necessary for a partnership with _him_.

The boy sighed and shut his eyes. He'd lay off on the frantic handspeed training for now. Instead, he'd focus on the tactics of Glory – studying battles, running scenarios. Practice techniques and combos that didn't require that raw handspeed.

And, moreover, focus on improving his spirit. He'd have to learn to perform under pressure, to ignore distractions, to stay humble after victories and hopeful after defeats, to be as steadfast as an iceberg.

There are always multiple angles of attack. There is always something to be done. Yu Wenzhou refused to let his weakness be the end of his Glory career.

One day, he swore to himself. One day, he _would_ stand up there on the championship podium.


	3. Dual-Core

_note: based off scenes from chapter 5 of the prequel_

 _Thank you to everyone who's reviewed so far! I appreciate all of your comments very much :D_

* * *

"Falling Scattered Flowers rushes forward! Dazzling Hundred Blossoms right behind! Two against one! Team Blue Rain is in a bad situation, what will their captain do?!"

The television screen flashed with colors as the commentator excitedly narrated the events of the battle. This face-off between the two professional teams had already reached the climax, the moment that would determine victory and defeat. In front of the television sat a crowd of youths, watching with bated breath and sweaty hands.

One of them jumped up, shaking his fists and yelling at the television. "Go, old man! Don't lose to them! You can't be this useless! These are just some newbies! Isn't that what you were saying yesterday? Were you just bragging then? Huh?!" His tirade continued, but it of course had no impact on the events broadcasted on the television.

"Blood and Blossoms, Blood and Blossoms!" the commentator exclaimed. A confusing array of light and shadow filled the screen. When the viewpoint zoomed in, all that could be seen was a sharp blade, splitting through.

Red droplets and flower petals scattered, but soon the dazzling display evaporated. A sliver of health finally was extinguished, and a figure collapsed to the ground.

"Victory! Blood and Blossoms! This is yet another win for Team Hundred Blossoms. This team is the biggest black horse of the season – who will be able to stop their victory streak? Peaceful Hermit couldn't, Swoksaar couldn't either! Will it be Desert Dust? Or One Autumn Leaf?"

The commentary continued, overlaid with replays of the Hundred Blossom duo finally defeating Swoksaar at the very end. The youths in front of the television sat and watched dejectedly. It seemed that none of them had the strength to move or speak after witnessing that ending, until one of them, the same one as before, angrily shut off the television.

"Useless old bastard!" the youth said, at a lower volume than before, but still with the same intensity. The others watched on silently. After all, Huang Shaotian was the only one in the club that dared to criticize and insult Captain Wei Chen like this.

Huang Shaotian knew perfectly well that shouting wouldn't do anything, but watching this match had frustrated him beyond belief. It was agonizing, watching the Blue Rain members – friends he'd talked to and trained with more than once – fall one by one under the onslaught, with him standing helpless on the sidelines.

"This was never something that someone could pull off by themselves." But before he could vent his emotions further, someone else finally spoke up.

Looking at this person, Huang Shaotian blinked in surprise, then sneered. "Oh? What insight does our deadlast have for us today?"

Deadlast… Even some of the bystanders winced at the rudeness. But the name wasn't inaccurate; ever since the day that Yu Wenzhou entered the Blue Rain training camp, his performance had always been subpar. Because of his pitifully slow handspeed, no one thought he had the potential to become a proplayer.

But even though everyone thought he'd be kicked out with each round of selection, Yu Wenzhou actually ended up lasting until the very end. Ultimately, he became an official member of Blue Rain's reserve team.

Even so, his handspeed hadn't improved at all, so among the group that had survived the eliminations, he was indeed the deadlast. The fact that the star prodigy Huang Shaotian called him this only gave the label more weight; Huang Shaotian never bothered to hide his contempt for this fellow player.

But, as was typical for him, Yu Wenzhou showed neither anger nor fear in response to the insult – he merely stated his view calmly. "Glory is not a single player game."

"Oh? Ye Qiu's catchphrase?" Huang Shaotian said disdainfully. Ye Qiu was last season's MVP, and this quote of his was highly regarded by the Glory community. But Huang Shaotian didn't see what the big deal was. Of course Glory was multiplayer – any half-literate person could read that on the game's label.

"It's not just a catchphrase, it's the truth," Yu Wenzhou replied, still calm.

Huang Shaotian snickered. "So you're saying that if you were also on the field, the situation would've been different?"

"No. The one on the field should be you."

At that, Huang Shaotian froze.

When anyone said one sentence to him, he was the kind of person to automatically say three sentences back. He could talk over anyone and anything. And with Yu Wenzhou in particular, the interactions were overwhelmingly one-sided.

But with that simple statement from the other boy, Huang Shaotian fell silent. He couldn't help but think – if he had been on the field, if his Troubling Rain had been beside Swoksaar, what could he have done? What might have changed?

"Uh… About that-" Finally, he started to reply. But when he opened his mouth, he found that there was no one in front of him. That guy had left, just like that, not even waiting for an answer.

He, Huang Shaotian, had been lectured by the deadlast? Once again, Huang Shaotian was left stunned.

He shook himself out of it a heartbeat later. Ignoring the wide-eyed stares of his fellow players, he strode out of the lounge and back into the training room to resume practice. Beating something up in game would, hopefully, let him shove that interaction to the back of his mind.

* * *

"A dual-core era, is it…" As he read the headline of the latest E-Sports Weekly edition laid on the desk before him, Wei Chen lit a cigarette.

Season 2 was approaching the halfway point, and the newly-joined Team Hundred Blossoms was undoubtedly the center of attention. They had racked up a high number of points and were leading the current League rankings. Most notable was their distinctive dual-core playstyle, featuring a Berserker, Falling Scattered Flowers, and a Spitfire, Dazzling Hundred Blossoms. Many thought that this marked the beginning of a dual-core era in the Glory Professional League.

After experiencing their terrifying combination first-hand, Wei Chen was inclined to agree. A dual-core wasn't a bad idea at all. Wei Chen himself had long wanted to establish a team like that, a team that relied on two central players instead of just one.

But it was still too early for Blue Rain!

Through the window, Wei Chen could see the training rooms of Team Blue Rain across the corridor, where a crowd of energetic youths were training hard at Glory. And his eyes landed on one of them in particular, whose hands expertly flew across the keyboard and mouse, and whose mouth was moving just as quickly, words and sounds coming out in an unfaltering stream.

After discovering Huang Shaotian kill-stealing BOSSes in the game, Wei Chen immediately recognized the youth's talent and personally invited him to Blue Rain's training camp. This player, as he had confidently told some others, would undoubtedly become Blue Rain's core.

Blade Master Troubling Rain, Warlock Swoksaar. This was the dual-core he imagined, and more than once had he pictured the strategies that could unfold with these two characters fighting side by side.

But could Wei Chen last until that day?

Whenever this issue crossed his mind, Wei Chen felt himself grow agitated. Huang Shaotian was still far too immature; it was too early for him to stand on the professional stage. And himself? After playing through the inaugural season of the Glory Professional League, he could feel his condition slipping rapidly, his control and reaction times slowing. In order to maintain his skill level, he had tried fixing his bad habits – he'd started sleeping earlier, smoking less – but it hadn't helped enough.

One year? Two years? He didn't want to think about how long he had left. In fact, he feared that he wouldn't even be able to maintain his performance for that mere one or two more years.

But he… he was still young! Wasn't he?

Wei Chen stared at his reflection in the mirror. Even though he wasn't particularly well-groomed, at 23 years old, he still had an undeniable air of youthfulness no matter where he went. But he had insisted on coming here of all places, the Glory competitive scene, where being 23 meant that you were at the twilight of your career. That talkative little brat, wasn't he always calling Wei Chen "old man, old man"?

What kind of 23-year-old was considered an "old man"? Wei Chen thought resentfully. But this was the cruel reality. At age 23, he found that his daily thoughts were becoming reminiscent of someone approaching his funeral. He wasn't sure whether to find this kind of life tragic or terribly funny.

The era of Glory had only just begun, yet Wei Chen already had to drop out.

But then, if not himself, where would the other half of Blue Rain's future dual-core be found? Would he show up here, in the training camp? Wei Chen studied the other trainees gathered in the training room, his eyes jumping from face to face before eventually falling upon the player at the rightmost corner of the room. Yu Wenzhou was standing by himself, quietly studying the League rankings after the latest round of competition.

Wei Chen had never had any hopes for this youth. From the very beginning, he had wanted to dismiss this player from the training camp altogether, but Yu Wenzhou was so persistent in what he did that Wei Chen couldn't bring himself to force this player home.

So Yu Wenzhou stayed at the training camp, surviving round after round of elimination. But so what? Even after so long, his handspeed hadn't improved at all. There was no future for him in a world that revolved around APM.

All that was left was to wait for him to give up.

In the end, what Wei Chen still anticipated most of all was that Huang Shaotian would grow up quickly. In that case, perhaps Wei Chen would be able to fight side-by-side onstage with this noisy but talented youth. And perhaps he would be able to experience for himself the dual-core Blue Rain of which he dreamed.


	4. Diametrically Opposed

notes: This scene comes from chapter 5 of the prequel, and is mostly a translation, save for Huang Shaotian's internal monologue.

* * *

The long-anticipated match-up of Season 2 had finally arrived: reigning champions Team Excellent Era versus popular dark horse Team Hundred Blossoms.

Since this match was so hyped-up, Club Blue Rain had managed to get tickets for the whole team to watch live, even the reserve players. So Huang Shaotian was here now, yelling passionately at the players below as the screens broadcasted the match from multiple angles. Of course, it was about as effective as yelling at a television, but a small fact like that would never stop him from talking.

"Go go go go go!" Excellent Era was clashing with Hundred Blossoms, but One Autumn Leaf was nowhere to be found onscreen. Huang Shaotian snorted in contempt – what was their ace player doing, abandoning his team like that? If this kept up, Excellent Era deserved to be defeated.

Excellent Era's rhythm faltered; Hundred Blossoms pressured them further. Huang Shaotian grinned – he loved watching this sort of unstoppable momentum. "Go!" he yelled again, for good measure.

But even in the midst of this excitement, Huang Shaotian couldn't help but glance at the boy sitting next to him. Somehow, he had ended up with the seat next to the deadlast, which, despite his typically loud complaints at first, didn't actually bother him _too_ too much. The match was the match, after all, and Yu Wenzhou had yet to say anything particularly irritating this time.

Even so, Huang Shaotian noticed how the boy's brow was furrowed. Yu Wenzhou was looking between the display screen and his notebook, twirling a pen in his fingers, jotting things down, occasionally flipping back several pages to read the notes there.

Damn, that was a shit-ton of writing. Huang Shaotian couldn't help think this when he saw the sheets covered with blue and black ink – it was impressive and a little bit terrifying.

His attention was drawn back to the match soon enough. As Excellent Era was pushed back by the onslaught, the display screens finally revealed One Autumn Leaf's position, and what he was up to.

One Autumn Leaf… wasn't doing anything. He was just standing in place.

"What the hell is that dumbass doing?" blurted out Huang Shaotian. Instinctively, though, he glanced to his left, where he saw Yu Wenzhou making a new note.

(56, 73).

Looking back at the screen, Huang Shaotian confirmed that those numbers referred to the coordinates where One Autumn Leaf was currently standing motionless. But what was the big deal about them?

Having written that last note, Yu Wenzhou shut his notebook with a definitive _snap_.

Huang Shaotian's chatter never stopped as he continued to watch the match, but through it all, he was keenly aware of Yu Wenzhou's every action and expression. What had that guy discovered that Huang Shaotian hadn't? It was as though that simple set of coordinates had been the final piece needed to solve a grand and difficult puzzle.

Huang Shaotian would never stoop to _ask_ , of course – this was still the deadlast they were talking about here, and he had a status to maintain. But curiosity gnawed at him as he strained to catch every detail of the ongoing match.

At the same time, Hundred Blossoms finally broke through Excellent Era's defense; Falling Scattered Flowers charged forward, blade flashing.

"Ye Qiu, come out!" Dazzling Hundred Blossoms sent in the chat, apparently impatient.

To everyone's surprise, there was actually a response, a simple, "Coming." One Autumn Leaf finally moved – seeming not to fear the Berserker's blade, he appeared behind him in the blink of an eye. The two characters were now practically back-to-back.

Falling Scattered Flowers was trapped – enemies in front, an enemy behind. Before he could decide how to address this dilemma, One Autumn Leaf had already launched a powerful level 50 attack – Illusion Dragon Tooth. Amidst the flashes from the firing guns, lines of black snaked outward toward the Hundred Blossom players, one after another.

Evil Annihilation!

In the entire Glory sphere, there were only a handful of self-made silver weapons that surpassed the attributes of orange weapons. And here, Ye Qiu and his One Autumn Leaf began dancing with one of these extraordinary weapons.

Hundred Blossoms' attack formation was torn apart. The Brawler behind Falling Scattered Flowers, who had accompanied him in the forward charge, was forced to retreat several steps to dodge the attacks, and a Witch that had tried to circle around in midair was stabbed down by One Autumn Leaf.

With these two players blocked, Falling Scattered Flowers' Earth-Shattering Slash suddenly seemed quite isolated. Three Excellent Era players, led by Qi Breaker, immediately began to counterattack. Dodging the shaking earth and the slashing blade, they knocked down Falling Scattered Flowers, and, without giving him the chance to recover, Qi Breaker hit him with an Earthquake and a Thunderbolt right to the chest.

One Autumn Leaf quickly twisted around to face the Berserker as well, and began a series of combos to his back. Evil Annihilation's damage was high, and attacks from behind dealt more damage. Added to the attacks from the other three Excellent Era players, and a flash from a Cleric casting Holy Commandment Light…

Sun Zheping had often imagined what it would be like to finally face off against One Autumn Leaf, but never in his imaginings did he picture this scene. He hadn't even had the chance to properly face One Autumn Leaf before falling. The last thing he saw was a mess of bright flashes and colors as chasers of various types exploded against his body, releasing their magic energy.

He died? Sun Zheping couldn't believe it. This was his first encounter with One Autumn Leaf, and he had been slaughtered just like that.

The audience, too, was stunned. Many were fans of Hundred Blossoms, and not one of them had predicted that Falling Scattered Flowers would fall that easily. Just a few seconds earlier, it had seemed that Hundred Blossoms was on their way to winning by a large margin, and yet, as soon as One Autumn Leaf entered battle, the situation underwent a drastic reversal.

"The hell was that?" Huang Shaotian shouted, shock and disappointment written all over his face.

"That," said Yu Wenzhou, speaking up for the first time since the match began, "was tactics."

Fuck. Huang Shaotian gritted his teeth. Somehow Yu Wenzhou managed to make even that simple statement sound so arrogant. The thing was, Huang Shaotian couldn't even be properly annoyed at him, because he was right. And his calm – who the hell was this calm all the time, anyway? – made picking a fight that much more difficult.

Huang Shaotian had observed enough to recognize that Yu Wenzhou, despite his pathetic hands and all other apparent shortcomings, was scarily intelligent. And though he would justify his name-calling to anyone who asked, he knew, deep down, if he was being honest with himself, that the "deadlast" nickname wasn't entirely warranted.

When Huang Shaotian actually turned to look at the other player's face, though, he noted Yu Wenzhou's widened eyes and slightly opened mouth, betraying the steadiness of his voice. Huh, so even this guy could be surprised by something. It sounded like he had expected this would happen, so what had caught him off-guard? The sheer abrupt decisiveness with which Falling Scattered Flowers had been cut down?

As the match wound down and Excellent Era swept the remainder of Hundred Blossoms, Yu Wenzhou flipped open his notebook once again. Huang Shaotian peered over more blatantly this time, ready to read whatever new amazing insight he had. Yu Wenzhou didn't seem to mind the attention, but he hesitated with his pen over the paper for the longest time, before finally writing only two names.

Ye Qiu, One Autumn Leaf.

…The hell was with that? Huang Shaotian frowned in disappointment, and actually prepared to shelve all his pride and ask. But before he could, a voice came from behind them.

"You think that only he could pull that off?"

The two Blue Rain players turned around in their seats to find an unfamiliar youth in the row behind them, possibly around the same age or slightly older. Because his seat was higher up, he could easily see what Yu Wenzhou had written in his notebook.

What weird eyes. This was Huang Shaotian's first impression of this youth – even though he was only looking at Yu Wenzhou, Huang Shaotian could still see that this player's left eye was unnaturally larger than his right. He almost blurted this out, but instead went with the less rude option.

"Who're _you_?" Okay, with that tone of voice, maybe it was only slightly less rude. Of course, Huang Shaotian was never one to hide behind smiles and gentleness.

"Tiny Herb, Wang Jiexi."

Huang Shaotian snorted. His tone made it seem like he was all big and mighty, but Huang Shaotian knew Tiny Herb's roster, and this name wasn't familiar. This guy was probably just someone from their training camp, like the two of them.

"You-" He prepared to unleash some verbal ridicule, but was interrupted – a rare experience for this chatterbox.

"Hello. Blue Rain, Yu Wenzhou." Yu Wenzhou extended his right hand to this player and they shook; much to Huang Shaotian's indignation, Wang Jiexi ignored him entirely.

"Do you not think that this sort of immediate, complete reversal was possible only because of Ye Qiu's skill and One Autumn Leaf's strength?" Yu Wenzhou followed up immediately, before Huang Shaotian had a chance to interject.

"Of course it was for those reasons," said Wang Jiexi.

"Fuck, then what're _you_ so cocky for?" said Huang Shaotian. Wang Jiexi's initial tone made it sound like he himself could pull off what Ye Qiu had done.

"I merely asked because I am not very familiar with the exact capabilities of a Battle Mage," answered Wang Jiexi patiently. Huang Shaotian blinked, then mentally swore. He had misinterpreted the other player's initial question as a boast, when he had been genuinely asking for an opinion.

Also, evidently, this guy wasn't easy to provoke. This was disappointing, and Huang Shaotian pouted.

"Oh?" said Yu Wenzhou. "Then your class is…?"

"Witch."

Witch… At that, Yu Wenzhou and Huang Shaotian unconsciously met each other's eyes. They'd never heard of this player's name before, but Tiny Herb's core was the famed and powerful Witch Vaccaria. To play the class of the team's core – there was significance there!

"A Witch? In that case…" Yu Wenzhou turned back to look at the stage. Didn't Hundred Blossoms have a Witch of their own? But One Autumn Leaf had landed right in the middle of them from above, and then Excellent Era's counterattack had smothered them ruthlessly.

"If I were him… May I?" Wang Jiexi made a gesture, and Yu Wenzhou handed over his notebook and pen.

"I'd get to here, (58, 70), and then from there, cut through!" With deft strokes, Wang Jiexi quickly sketched a diagram on a blank page of the notebook.

"Huh?" Huang Shaotian couldn't quite follow.

But Yu Wenzhou was paying close attention. "Attack from this position? Here?" He pointed to a spot to verify.

"Yes," Wang Jiexi nodded.

"This… how is that possible?" Unlike Huang Shaotian, Yu Wenzhou wasn't one to openly challenge others; even this question, polite by Huang Shaotian's standards, was unusually disbelieving of him. Wang Jiexi's proposed plan must have really been quite ambitious.

"And then what would you do?" But despite any doubts, Yu Wenzhou still wanted to listen to Wang Jiexi's train of thought.

"Disperse Powder, Frost Powder, Broom Tornado." Wang Jiexi simply named these three skills.

Disperse Powder to lower the opponents' speed.

Frost Powder to give his weapon ice elemental damage and the chance to freeze.

Broom Tornado to break apart the enemies.

The reasoning behind these three skills was evident. But to cast all of them in those conditions? Wang Jiexi's plan of seizing that position and cutting through would put him right between the back-to-back Falling Scattered Flowers and One Autumn Leaf. How would he be able to quickly pull off those three skills from that position?

"You're bragging," was Huang Shaotian's blunt claim, now that he finally understood Wang Jiexi's plan.

"Next season, you'll see." Wang Jiexi didn't try to explain more; there was a limit to what could be shown with pen and paper.

"Hmph." Huang Shaotian, still feeling somewhat disdainful toward this player, refused to let him have the last word. "It's not like Falling Scattered Flowers couldn't have stopped One Autumn Leaf's attack on his own, if he had forcibly cancelled his Earth-Shattering Slash and turned in midair with a Falling Light Blade."

Wang Jiexi glanced at him. "Oh? Was there such an opportunity?" There was a faintly mocking smile playing at his lips.

"Of course!" said Huang Shaotian, without a trace of uncertainty. Privately, he fumed at the other player's patronizing tone. This wasn't just a theory, he _knew_ he could pull this off, even if Wang Jiexi was doubtful.

Since the match had concluded, the screens were currently replaying the scenes showing One Autumn Leaf's pivotal kill. Huang Shaotian turned to watch, and the other two did likewise.

Coming up… "Right now!" declared Huang Shaotian. The moment flashed by quickly, but when the screens slowed down the replay, both Yu Wenzhou and Wang Jiexi could see the moment he was referring to.

"Well?" challenged Huang Shaotian, turning back to the Tiny Herb player.

Huang Shaotian knew he was a chatterbox, but he was a _skilled_ chatterbox, damnit. And from the way Wang Jiexi was now appraising him, it seemed that the other player was finally acknowledging that. Good.

"What's your name?" Wang Jiexi asked, addressing him face-on for the first time.

"Huang Shaotian." He inclined his head.

"You're correct, there was such an opportunity. But would you be able to seize it?"

Wang Jiexi wasn't wrong – there was a difference between merely seeing an opportunity, and actually being able to take advantage of it.

But Huang Shaotian simply threw Wang Jiexi's own words back at him. "Next season, you'll see."

Wang Jiexi nodded. "Then, next season, we'll meet onstage?"

"We'll meet onstage!"

"What about you?" asked Wang Jiexi, turning toward Yu Wenzhou.

Huang Shaotian winced. This outsider had no clue about Yu Wenzhou's crippled hands and low status in the team. If he knew the truth, would he still anticipate Yu Wenzhou's onstage appearance?

Yu Wenzhou, however, remained as calm as ever as he looked at the two of them. "You two, aren't you forgetting something?"

"What?"

"Ye Qiu is a living person, with the ability to adjust his actions as the situation demands. Not to mention that Excellent Era is composed of more members than just him. You make plans to counter him, but are you really sure they would be enough to change the overall result?"

That silenced both of them.

Huang Shaotian had assumed that his response could break the deadlock. But would his actions have been enough to render Ye Qiu helpless? With that simple question, he deflated, and, judging from Wang Jiexi's silence, the other player felt similarly.

On one hand, Huang Shaotian resented the audacity of Yu Wenzhou's sharp comment. On the other, he couldn't help but feel a begrudging respect toward him. After all, there was no proper counter to those words, because he was right. Again. As usual.

As always.

 _…Damn._

"Thus," concluded Yu Wenzhou, shutting his notebook, "I believe that I, personally, am not yet ready."


	5. When A Tree Falls

_The first scene, between Wei Chen and Fang Shijing, is roughly translated **from chapter 5 of the prequel**._

 _The second scene, between Huang Shaotian and Yu Wenzhou, is **entirely original**._

 _Read and enjoy, and if you like this (or if you have anything to say), please leave a comment!_

* * *

Recently, something about Huang Shaotian and his playstyle had changed.

Sure, he was still talking as much as ever. But when he was playing Glory, there was a new seriousness about him; the sort of carefree, casual air that he'd used to exhibit had suddenly faded away. It was as though he had discovered a concrete goal to work toward, and his training had become correspondingly more purposeful, clear, and definite.

"What do you think?" After observing for several days, Wei Chen confirmed that this change in attitude was more than just a passing phase. He felt the need to discuss with someone else, to exchange thoughts about Huang Shaotian's development.

Standing beside Wei Chen was his trusted friend, Blue Rain's free player, Fang Shijing.

A so-called "free player" was simply someone who could play any class. They could switch accounts and playstyles with every match, and so it would be impossible for an opponent to prepare counters for them.

Over half of the teams in the Alliance had a "free player"; it was a seen as a creative and interesting strategy for a team to have. But after two seasons, it had gradually become clear that although this strategy was appealing to watch, it wasn't actually all that effective in competition. In this season so far, already four free players had decided to settle on one class, and most of the others had narrowed down the classes they switched between.

Blue Rain's Fang Shijing now played a slightly different role for the team – he was Blue Rain's golden substitute. Because he could play any class proficiently, if any one of the main roster felt in poor condition on a given day, he could easily replace them without interfering with the team dynamic.

At first, Wei Chen had felt that such an arrangement was unfair to Fang Shijing. The two of them were old friends from the game; they had played many matches together, had formed Team Blue Rain together, had fought side-by-side through Season 1. Wei Chen felt that he had wronged his friend by failing to find him a position better than a mere substitute for this season.

But Fang Shijing thought differently. True, he knew better than anyone that "free players" were a failed concept. However, playing as a substitute would correct this mistake while still taking advantage of his unique versatility. Increasing Blue Rain's strength and flexibility while still using a minimal number of players; this was the best choice for the team as a whole.

Unfortunately, the presence of this free player did not enable Blue Rain's performance to improve. In fact, compared to last season, they had actually worsened. Ultimately, Fang Shijing was not the protagonist of this team, and could only influence so much.

And what about the person who _was_ Blue Rain's current protagonist, the single person who had the greatest impact on this team? Fang Shijing understood Wei Chen's current condition very well.

He understood, and yet was helpless.

No one could escape the progression of time; in the end, the passing years swallow all. One could only hope that the next generation would continue their unfinished work.

Fang Shijing knew how much Wei Chen anticipated the debut of young Huang Shaotian, and he himself felt the same way. Both of them had noticed the young player's recent change in attitude. And Fang Shijing, as a free player, was more familiar with the Blade Master class, and so Wei Chen sought him out for his insight.

Wei Chen had been vague with his question, but Fang Shiqing immediately understood to what he was referring, and offered his opinion. "He always had the raw talent necessary to play in the League. But this new serious attitude is what will really make him ready to assimilate into the pro scene."

"Remember the first time we met him in-game?" Wei Chen asked him, mouth quirking upward at the memory.

Fang Shijing nodded. "So many of us, yet he was still able to avoid detection and survive for so long."

"He just naturally has that incredible observational ability. He can spot these sort of game-changing opportunities, exploit the smallest weaknesses for the greatest advantages. That ability will serve him well."

"I think the training camp environment, with the focus on ordinary 1v1 matches, doesn't push him out of his comfort zone enough," mused Fang Shijing. "That's why we never saw him _really_ take training seriously. Even if he did practice a lot, and even if he did well compared to everyone else, he was still treating the whole thing as just a game. You can't go pro with an attitude like that."

"Then he must have seen some high-level match recently, to inspire this new intensity we're seeing," said Wei Chen. "He saw what was out there, and it opened his eyes. The dog in the well discovered the great ocean."

Fang Shijing coughed. "Isn't it the frog in the well…"

"You know what I mean," Wei Chen grumbled. Fang Shijing chuckled at his facial expression; it was almost a running joke within the team how often the captain misquoted famous idioms.

"But I think you're right," said Fang Shijing, returning to the topic at hand. "Seeing something he couldn't compete with brought out this drive in him.

"His skill is good, but in order for him to stand on the pro stage, he still needs to improve his spirit and focus. And for that to happen, he needs a more challenging environment. He needs that pressure in order to truly refine his raw skill, into a force that's unstoppable even against experienced professionals. And," he added, " _we_ need to be the ones to provide this environment for him."

Wei Chen grimaced. "You're right. Why didn't we realize this sooner…"

"Well, it's better that he discover his deficiencies on his own, and find his own path of improvement. If we'd forced him a certain way, it could have turned out worse," Fang Shijing pointed out. He didn't want Wei Chen to blame himself for something like this.

"Maybe. But it doesn't matter anymore, now that he's realized what he needs to do. We'll start his formal training now!"

"Alright. I will build a specialized training regimen for him," said Fang Shijing, making to leave.

"Hopefully it'll be soon enough," Wei Chen said under his breath.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing," Wei Chen lied easily. "Then, hold on. Before you make that training plan for him, let me play with him for a while! Let him feel that some of that pressure, let him see how far he still needs to go if he wants to beat this senior." Laughing, he joined Fang Shijing, and the two of them headed toward the reserve players' training room.

* * *

Yu Wenzhou didn't talk much with the other trainees. Though none of them were as blatant about their disdain for him as Huang Shaotian was, he was aware of their whispers and hostile looks. Forcing his company upon people who didn't want him there would only result in unhappiness on both sides, and so, he kept mostly to himself.

He didn't mind being solitary, anyway, as he knew that he was naturally introverted. Interacting with other people for too long – maintaining that kind and patient smile all the while – tended to wear him out.

Huang Shaotian was different. There was someone who thrived on being in the spotlight. Practices saw him chatting and laughing with his fellow players; even all of the main roster players knew him by name and had casual and familiar conversations with him.

Yu Wenzhou didn't _resent_ him, per say. He was jealous, of course, who wouldn't be? He deeply admired Huang Shaotian for several reasons: his diligence, his strange charisma, but most importantly his Glory skill – how he could, with a few keystrokes and mouse movements, direct his character in a flowing dance of blood and death. By now, Yu Wenzhou was keenly aware that he could practice for another hundred years and would still never achieve that level. And, of course, Huang Shaotian himself was constantly training, constantly improving.

But Yu Wenzhou knew all too well that such thoughts wouldn't get him anywhere – all he could do was focus on himself, and be the best he could be. Paying others too much attention would only distract him from his goal. Huang Shaotian would live his life, and Yu Wenzhou would live his own.

Life was simpler with that in mind. Wake up, eat, train, sleep, repeat.

And then one day, during a break in practice, Yu Wenzhou was studying the latest updates to the League rankings when he felt someone's presence approach beside him. He automatically shifted aside to give them space, glanced to see who it was, and felt his heartrate _spike_.

This was… Unexpected would be putting it lightly. Completely out of the blue – that was more like it. Even more unexpected was the silence that followed, until Yu Wenzhou finally coughed and asked, "Can I help you?"

"What, can I not look at these?" Huang Shaotian, hands stuffed in his pockets, turned on him with an intense stare.

"No, of course, go ahead," Yu Wenzhou said quickly, stepping away. From his experience, Huang Shaotian was ultimately someone best admired from afar. He never had malicious intent, Yu Wenzhou understood, but sometimes he threw words around without realizing that words could be just as powerful as any silver weapon.

But the other boy still wasn't breaking eye contact with him, and Yu Wenzhou suddenly realized that it looked like he wanted to say something, but, for some reason, was hesitating.

Huang Shaotian, hesitating to talk. That was certainly new. And so Yu Wenzhou waited, though he mentally braced himself for the interaction to come.

Several more tense and awkward seconds passed, until the other boy finally opened his mouth and blurted out, "Whatdoyouthinkabouttheleaguerankingssofarthisseason?"

"…What?"

"What Do You Think About The League Rankings So Far This Season?" Huang Shaotian repeated irritably, over-enunciating each word even though he still spoke rapidly. "Don't tell me your ears are as slow as your hands?"

Yu Wenzhou had understood him perfectly well the first time, even if the words had tumbled out in a rush. It was just… the situation in which he now found himself was, frankly, absurd. Since when did the star prodigy deign to ask the deadlast for his opinion? In fact, since when did the star prodigy say anything to him that didn't contain an insult? Was the sun now rising from the west?

Those piercing eyes continued to stare at him, and Yu Wenzhou felt compelled to offer at least something, even if the request was entirely unanticipated. "Well, that last match proved that even though Hundred Blossoms is doing remarkably well for a new team, they are still a ways off from toppling Excellent Era from their throne.

"The other powerhouse teams, Tyranny, Royal Style, they've been doing well, but there haven't really been any true rivals to Excellent Era's performance. Anything can happen during playoffs, but it's likely that they'll take the championship again this year. And our Blue Rain…"

Yu Wenzhou trailed off. "With all respect, I know you didn't really come here to listen to me talk about the rankings," he said, shifting the topic. "To be honest, you've never talked to me normally before. If I may be so bold as to ask, what do you really want?" There he was, automatically slipping into that overly formal diction when he was agitated. Hopefully it wouldn't accidentally make the other boy even more annoyed.

Huang Shaotian blinked, then pouted as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "So what if I did…" he muttered, almost to himself, then said in a louder voice, "Maybe I want to ask you something. It's really important and I've been thinking about it for a while and you better tell the truth now here, okay?"

"Yes?"

"Are your hands really crippled or are you just faking it?"

Yu Wenzhou stared at him in stunned silence. And then, he couldn't help it.

He started laughing.

When was the last time he had laughed this hard? He could feel tears beginning to prick at his eyes, and wasn't sure what emotion was causing them.

"Hey hey hey! What the hell is that reaction for? It's just a question, so just answer it!"

"Huang Shaotian," said Yu Wenzhou, using his full name, "why on earth would I _choose_ to have a slow handspeed?"

Huang Shaotian crossed his arms and looked away with a huff. "I dunno… For sympathy? Or lying low so you can wait for an opportunity later, maybe." He turned back to Yu Wenzhou, skepticism still in his eyes. "You're really sure?"

"Yes," replied Yu Wenzhou, with a smile – if it was somewhat bitter, then, well. He was doing his best. "I really am just this slow."

"Hmph." It seemed, for a moment, that Huang Shaotian was actually at a loss for words. But it wasn't long before he spoke up again. "Well, I mean, I guess that's kind of good to hear, like, I would be really upset if it turned out that you were holding yourself back while everyone else was putting in their all to be the best they could, that's an insult to everyone here. Though I guess I could respect the sneakiness of that, it would still be a dumb and shitty thing to do. But anyway you know, you're not as bad at Glory as they think? You really say some smart things sometimes, and even if it's annoying you're basically always right, you can make anyone shut up with that brain of yours."

Yu Wenzhou was able to follow every word, but he was utterly bewildered by what he heard. Where was all this coming from? The words were spilling out haphazardly, as typical for Huang Shaotian, but this was a far cry from the nonsense trash-talk he would spout during matches. These words had significance…

Was Huang Shaotian… actually complimenting him?

"You should do something about that, how everyone here sees you," continued Huang Shaotian bluntly. "Otherwise you'll never get anywhere here and you'll never become a real proplayer going onstage and playing in matches and this whole thing will just be a waste of your potential and intelligence and future and everyone's time, don't you realize?" He took a step closer. "For someone as smart as you, you'd think-"

"Break's over!" There was a sudden call from one of the Blue Rain staff members. "Captain Wei Chen is here to assess the progress of the reserve team, through 1v1 matches."

The various players were assembling back at their respective computers. "I call dibs on first match!" yelled Huang Shaotian across the room. But before he joined them, he had one last thing to say to Yu Wenzhou.

"Seize the opportunity and prove yourself."

With that, he bounded over to where everyone else had gathered, plopping himself down in the computer in front of Wei Chen's and immediately striking up a trash-talking contest with Blue Rain's esteemed captain.

Yu Wenzhou followed behind, turning those words over in his head as he took his seat, logged on, and entered to spectate the room where Wei Chen was holding the evaluation matches. No matter what, these matches would be a rare opportunity to study the style and techniques of all his fellow players at once. This would help when it was time for his own evaluation.

After giving up on his handspeed, Yu Wenzhou had still been working hard at Glory in his own ways. But improvement in strategy and tactics was much harder to observe and quantify than APM, and so he probably hadn't made any progress in the eyes of those around him.

But the prodigy was right. It was like a tree falling in a forest – if he improved but no one noticed, did he really improve at all? For their purposes, perceived skill was just as important as the actual thing. This meant that if he ever got a chance to show off one of his few strengths, he was going to have to take full advantage of it to demonstrate his competence to those watching.

Yu Wenzhou sat at his computer, and watched, and waited.

…Now that he thought about it, it had been a while since Huang Shaotian had called him the deadlast.


	6. Succession

_notes: based off events of chapter 5 of the prequel_

* * *

"Watch my sword – _fuck_!" Huang Shaotian yelled as DEFEAT flashed across his computer screen once again.

"Hahaha, kid, you're still too green!" Wei Chen let out a hearty laugh as he lit a cigarette. But in his heart, he was nowhere near as confident as his laugh suggested.

Just now, at the very end, Troubling Rain's light saber had pointed at Swoksaar's chest, and light had flashed across his screen as the death strike approached. At that moment, Wei Chen had seen the approaching threat, and he had _wanted_ to counter it. But although his brain recognized the danger, he wasn't fast enough to do anything – his reaction and control couldn't catch up. All he could do was watch.

In that instant of helplessness, Wei Chen knew despair.

He had won the match in the end, yes, but that was only because Huang Shaotian had made an error. He had seen the opportunity, but his grasp of the timing and his accuracy had been slightly off. The light from his sword had flashed by harmlessly, and Wei Chen, recovering from the false alarm, quickly struck back with a finishing spell.

Wei Chen continued to laugh loudly, and hoped it masked the sound of his pounding heart.

A hand fell upon Wei Chen's shoulder, and he looked up to see Fang Shijing's face, full of barely concealed excitement. Wei Chen understood the look in his friend's eyes; he was saying, "Did you see it? That strike!"

Not only had Wei Chen seen it, he had _felt_ it. That one blade strike had perfectly demonstrated Huang Shaotian's talent and specialty. One day, it would dazzle on the Glory pro stage.

Wei Chen's thoughts returned to himself. He truly had no more hope of competing with those currently at the summit of Glory…

"Don't be too happy, I should've won that match! Again!" Huang Shaotian yelled. This was his third loss in a row, but this time, he had come closest to victory. Evidently, he too had realized – if his blade had been just a little faster, if he had been just a little more accurate, than the one who had fallen would have been the old man sitting across from him.

Wei Chen brushed him off; one close call had been enough. "Again? Heh, I don't have all day to waste on you. I still need to evaluate all the others."

The reserve players were all very excited for this opportunity. Unlike Huang Shaotian, they all treated Captain Wei very respectfully. To them, he and his account Swoksaar were gods, and it wasn't every day that these players got to challenge a god.

The youths bickered with each other to be next in line, and Huang Shaotian fell to the side. It was only fair, though; he, as the acknowledged future ace of Blue Rain, already got many more chances to battle Wei Chen than the others did.

Huang Shaotian moved to stand beside Wei Chen, on the opposite side of Fang Shijing. Apparently, he planned to spectate the matches from Wei Chen's point of view. Wei Chen glanced at the boy, but at the moment, Huang Shaotian wasn't looking at the screen. No, he was looking off to the side, at one of the reserve players, the only one who hadn't scrambled for the chance to fight their captain.

There was a strange expression on Huang Shaotian's face, but Wei Chen didn't have time to dwell on it, as his next challenger finally sat at the computer across from him. This arrangement wasn't strictly necessary – they could have simply had each player battle from their own computer – but Wei Chen said that this positioning added to the atmosphere. Spectators could crowd around and watch on the players' screens, instead of just watching separately from their computers.

And so, with a cigarette at his lips, laughing all the while, Wei Chen played his way through the reserve players. Some got one round, others two. But even though he wasn't using Swoksaar today – that would just be _too_ unfair to them – he still won every single match with ease, leaving awestruck youths in his wake.

Wei Chen wasn't doing this to build his self-esteem, nor was he purposely trying to impress the youths. He only wanted to cleanly, clearly experience the raw passion of his dear team, for he sensed that he wouldn't have the chance to experience it for much longer.

Wei Chen lifted his head to see the last reserve team member sit before him.

This last youth was also last in the rankings of the training camp, the one deemed to have no future. But no matter how lowly, he was still a member of Team Blue Rain, and Wei Chen had no reason to refuse him a match.

With these thoughts in mind, Wei Chen clicked for the battle to begin.

* * *

"Warlock?" Yu Wenzhou heard the captain mutter, a faint exclamation of surprise.

Yu Wenzhou hadn't always used Warlock, no, but he'd been training with this class for the past several weeks, as he'd decided that it was best suited for the type of player he wanted to be.

So Captain Wei really hadn't noticed him, all this time…

But Yu Wenzhou put that aside. It didn't matter; battle was at hand.

He knew, after watching so many battles, that the captain liked to strike first, without hesitation. Indeed, as soon as the two characters appeared near the center of the map, an attack came flying at Yu Wenzhou's Warlock.

Quickly, he ducked behind a nearby giant boulder. With this cover, Yu Wenzhou readied a spell, and counted in his head. Judging by the other Warlock's movement speed, he should be coming around the boulder right… now!

In the instant that the captain's Warlock moved into sight, Yu Wenzhou cast a Hexagram Prison. With no time to react, the opponent was instantly trapped inside.

A Warlock's specialty was control, and a good Warlock had to be able to make accurate and precise calculations. It was said that once a Warlock gained control of his target, that was the end.

Could Yu Wenzhou pull this off? Could he follow through?

In the following moments, nothing existed for him outside of Glory. He became hyperaware of every action he was taking, every skill he cast. Using a precise rhythm of attack and control to compensate for his slow handspeed, he maintained his advantage until the end.

When GLORY flashed across his screen, Yu Wenzhou breathed again.

Against all belief, he had actually won.

Around him, he gradually became aware of the muttering of the spectators. None of them had been watching from his screen; they were either crowded around the captain or sitting at their own computers.

 _"Did that just happen?"_

 _"Not even Huang Shaotian-"_

 _"The captain must have been too tired."_

Yu Wenzhou looked down. There was a point there – the captain hadn't expended much effort in conducting all the evaluations, but still, even if the battles were easy, the fatigue would accumulate. Maybe that was the only reason he had managed to do this.

Yu Wenzhou made to stand up, but was stopped by the captain's gruff voice.

"Not bad. Another round."

He looked up. The computer screens between them blocked his view of Captain Wei's face, but he could see the captain's hands, one of which now extinguished the cigarette it was holding.

And he could see those standing around the captain. Senior Fang, a hand on the captain's shoulder, his excited eyes a sharp contrast to the dubious expressions of those around him, looking like he had just discovered a gold mine. Huang Shaotian, still staring at him intensely, but this time with a stupidly wide grin on his face, as though saying _I knew it_.

Yu Wenzhou hesitated. It wasn't hard to guess what the captain was feeling, being bested by the deadlast of the reserves. If he lost in this next round, then Captain Wei would regain face, and everyone would dismiss Yu Wenzhou's sole victory as a fluke.

But if he _did_ win, for the second time in a row…

 _Seize the opportunity._

"Okay," said Yu Wenzhou, and they began round two.

* * *

Huang Shaotian _knew_ that Yu Wenzhou could be good. He had fucking called it.

For sure, he had still been surprised by how efficiently the other player had won. The battle had basically been decided right at the start – Huang Shaotian had guessed he was good, but not _that_ good. Even so, listening to the disbelieving comments of those around him, Huang Shaotian wanted to laugh in glee, never mind that he had once thought the same about this player.

And yeah, maybe he was a tiny bit jealous of Yu Wenzhou for doing what he couldn't. But still – what a reversal! What excitement!

On Wei Chen's screen, he watched the second match unfold. Same characters, same map, same starting positions. Old Wei fired an attack, and Yu Wenzhou again dodged behind that same boulder.

Huang Shaotian frowned. What was even the point of doing another round if it was exactly the same?

He saw Fang Shijing quietly walk over to stand behind Yu Wenzhou and watch the match from his viewpoint. Fang Shijing, as another old player, was probably the one person in Blue Rain that understood Old Wei the best. Huang Shaotian wished he could hear his thoughts on this match.

It looked like Old Wei was using the same method of approach as before. Maybe to understand better what had happened in the first round, or maybe just because he was frustrated, Huang Shaotian had no idea.

But Old Wei must know what Yu Wenzhou was planning to do, and there was no way he was stupid enough to get hit in the same way as last time. Old Wei was Old Wei, but he was also a competent proplayer. So what would he do different now? And more importantly, how would Yu Wenzhou adjust?

Wei Chen's Warlock rounded the boulder, and the other Warlock came into sight. But there _was_ a difference in his approach this time – the timing and the angle were altered just enough to allow him to avoid Yu Wenzhou's attack from last time. And so, Wei Chen's Warlock cleanly dodged the Hexagram Prison.

The… nonexistent Hexagram Prison?

Light flashed, and from the sky fell Chaotic Rain. Under his breath, Huang Shaotian swore.

The movements of Wei Chen's Warlock became jumpy, irregular. No experience or talent could control a character under the confusion effect of Chaotic Rain. Yu Wenzhou's Warlock, neither too quickly nor too slowly, began casting spells. Attack and control alternated in perfect rhythm, and Wei Chen's Warlock fell to the ground.

This time, the room was silent.

The first loss, that could be called a fluke. But to lose a second time? To confidently re-enact the events of before, this time with preparation, and still lose?

Many of the spectators, even those who had been sitting at their own places, now drifted to watch from Yu Wenzhou's computer. They didn't know if there would be a third round, but they all wanted to know how Yu Wenzhou did it.

Huang Shaotian stayed where he was, and observed Yu Wenzhou's expression – calm as ever, of course. Unbelievable. This guy was doing something impossible, and he looked exactly the same as he always did. If it were Huang Shaotian in his place, he'd be loudly cheering and gloating long before now.

The others were all sneaking glances at Old Wei, but the only one blatantly staring was Fang Shijing. Was that… ridicule in his gaze? Huang Shaotian glanced down at the old man, but his expression was inscrutable.

Well, Huang Shaotian was inclined to agree with Fang Shijing's sentiment. Old Wei had massively underestimated Yu Wenzhou here, to think that such a small adjustment would be enough to counter him. Old Wei had looked a mere one step ahead; the other player had planned far beyond that.

Yu Wenzhou might have great weaknesses, but throughout his entire time at Blue Rain, he had fiercely dedicated himself to study and improvement. Huang Shaotian had seen that. For the others, this was a rude awakening.

Old Wei's defeat just now, if Huang Shaotian was being honest, was deserved.

"You played very good," said Wei Chen – higher praise than last time. "One more. This time, I won't go easy on you!"

"Okay," again was Yu Wenzhou's simple reply, and round three began.

* * *

Fang Shijing could tell that his friend's joking and jovial attitude had finally been replaced with focus. It was about time, too; hadn't they just discussed how important this mindset was for a pro?

Encounter, clash, dodge, retreat… The two Warlocks began an intricate dance, and Wei Chen took the initiative, maintaining a clear advantage in suppressing Yu Wenzhou.

Wei Chen wasn't captain and controller of a god-account for nothing. The spectators were murmuring again, in appreciation of the captain's skill.

But Yu Wenzhou wasn't weak either! Fang Shijing, more so than any of the other spectators, saw this clearly. The youth was performing admirably in enduring the attacks and conserving his health. This face-to-face confrontation truly allowed Yu Wenzhou's ability to shine through.

His handspeed was still terrible; that hadn't changed. But his playstyle didn't rely on his handspeed; instead, he relied upon his grasp of the map's characteristics, his predictions of the capabilities of Wei Chen's Warlock, and his own understanding of the Warlock class as a whole.

Yu Wenzhou was the very last reserve player to challenge Wei Chen. In order to try and be fair to everyone, Wei Chen hadn't changed map or account between evaluations. And so Yu Wenzhou could analyze them beforehand, and use this knowledge to his advantage.

He didn't have the handspeed, but he used well the strengths he _did_ have. He had stood by the wayside and waited for his opportunity. Because of all this, he was able to last much longer than Fang Shijing anticipated.

If this hadn't been the third round between these two, Fang Shijing might have, at this point, quietly encouraged Wei Chen to throw the match, to let this youth feel that his efforts weren't in vain, to give him some hope and confidence.

But Wei Chen had already lost twice in a row. If he lost again, would he have any pride left?

Fang Shijing sighed to himself; he couldn't bear to see his friend lose face to that extent. Still, he hoped that this youth wouldn't become too frustrated by a defeat. These matches had shown that Yu Wenzhou had potential, much more than they had perceived. With the proper help, who knew what he could become?

 _Hua!_ Onscreen, purple light flashed. Wei Chen's Warlock once again seized a chance to attack ferociously, and this time, his opponent was well and thoroughly cornered. Nowhere to retreat, nowhere to hide.

It's over, Fang Shijing thought, with another quiet sigh. Yet Yu Wenzhou hadn't given up. Though trapped and suffering attack, his Warlock continued to struggle, and he even managed to cast a skill – Decaying Curse, which decreased the target's attack power. Was he trying to buy time?

What an admirable spirit! Fang Shijing really didn't want to see his friend lose, but at the same time, he internally cheered for the hard-working and steadfast underdog. He was almost tempted to just pull the power on the computer cables, forcibly end the match in a draw.

And then, in the midst of launching a stream of attacks, Wei Chen's Warlock suddenly stopped.

Around him rose the light of a Hexagram Prison.

 _What-?!_

Locked in place by the skill, Wei Chen's Warlock was rendered helpless as Yu Wenzhou began casting. Because his health was dangerously low, he cast several protection spells upon himself as precaution. But his perfect rhythm was the same as before, and his low health didn't affect his control of the situation.

And under everyone's shocked eyes, Wei Chen's Warlock fell for the third time.

What… had happened? Fang Shijing mentally replayed those final, pivotal moments of battle. He thought of Wei Chen, firmly on the offensive, and then…

Decaying Curse!

It was all because of that Decaying Curse! That skill had lengthened the battle, but more importantly, had disrupted Wei Chen's attack rhythm. Wei Chen had maintained this rhythm for almost the entirety of the battle; he had gotten used to it, fallen into a regular pattern. So when his attack power had lowered, he had forgotten to compensate. He had reached for a skill, only to find that it was unexpectedly still in cooldown – and in that instant, his opponent struck.

So that was to say, all this time, Yu Wenzhou's actions in the battle had been intentional. It hadn't been helpless struggle or baseless hope. He had guided the battle's progression, had lulled Wei Chen into a stable rhythm and a false sense of security. And then, right when the opponent had been on the verge of winning, he had used a single skill to completely reverse the situation and seize victory for himself.

Diligence, persistence? Those weren't Yu Wenzhou's most fearsome qualities. It was his brain, his planning, his calculations. Who would have thought that this youth, who had been completely overlooked, was in fact this incredible?

Wei Chen, did you see it?

Fang Shijing looked at his friend, but couldn't tell if he was pleased or angry. After appearing to space out for a moment, Wei Chen eventually let out a long sigh and stood up, studying Yu Wenzhou intently.

"Thank you, Senior, for your guidance," said Yu Wenzhou respectfully as he also rose to his feet.

To defeat Wei Chen three times in a row… Even in the entire Glory professional sphere, the number of players who could pull that off was very small. Wei Chen's condition might have been declining, but he was still a god-level player.

And Yu Wenzhou, a mere reserve player with a pathetic handspeed, had done it. But he wasn't excited, let alone arrogant; he was just as calm as he was when facing the mocking shouts of others taunting his slow hands.

This, thought Fang Shijing, was the spirit of a true proplayer.

Wei Chen nodded. He fished around in his pocket, but in the end only withdrew an empty box of cigarettes. With a face of regret, he tossed it aside.

"Continue working hard!" he said, not just to Yu Wenzhou, but to everyone gathered.

"Yes!" the reserve players answered.

"I'm going to buy some cigarettes." With that, Wei Chen turned and left the room, and Fang Shijing hurried into the hallway after him.

Wei Chen heard the rushed footsteps behind him, and without turning his head knew that it was his old friend.

"It's time," he said, just as the figure reached his side.

"What?" said Fang Shijing, startled.

"I never imagined that this Yu Wenzhou was also so powerful," said Wei Chen, continuing to walk down the hallway. He had underestimated his opponent – and, perhaps, overestimated himself. He had hoped he could push through one more year in the Alliance, but after today…

"No one imagined," Fang Shijing rushed to say. His ever-faithful friend, still trying to reassure him. Wei Chen smiled helplessly.

"We realized it too late. We didn't help them the best we could." _Them_ , not him. He was no longer speaking of just Yu Wenzhou.

"They have a bright future ahead of them." Fang Shijing knew to whom Wei Chen was referring, and spoke with confidence.

"Undoubtedly. But they still need time, and you will have to help them."

"Well, of course," Fang Shijing replied automatically. But after those words left his mouth, he seemed to suddenly realize the second meaning behind Wei Chen's statement. _You_ will have to help them…

"Wait, what do you mean by that?!" he immediately demanded, coming to a stop in the middle of the hallway.

"There was never a place for me in this dual-core era…" Wei Chen sighed and turned his head. In the training room at the end of the long hallway, he could see that Yu Wenzhou had been surrounded by the other trainees, including that talkative Huang Shaotian. They were all jostling for a chance to fight him in a match, to see his unexpected prowess in action once more. To varying extents, all of these trainees had looked down upon Yu Wenzhou during their time at Blue Rain, but he seemed not to resent them for this abrupt change in attitude.

"He is the best choice for captain," said Wei Chen, turning to face Fang Shijing fully. "Swoksaar should go to him as well!"

He had only just begun to understand Yu Wenzhou through the three matches they had fought, yet those three matches had shown him enough. Wei Chen knew he had thoroughly lost to this youth, not only in battle, but in professional spirit as well.

"But, in the meantime, I'll still have to count on you," he added.

"What do you mean?" Alarmed, Fang Shijing grabbed Wei Chen's wrist. "In the meantime of what? Where are _you_ going?"

"Me? I'm going to buy some cigarettes! What, do you want to come with? It's not like you smoke." He shook off Fang Shijing's hand and, with a casual wave and hardly a glance back, headed down the stairwell.

As he descended, his head swirled with thoughts, rationalizing, analyzing, excusing. But in his heart, one feeling rose above all the others.

He was no longer needed by Team Blue Rain.

* * *

Fang Shijing didn't follow Wei Chen. He knew that he was making a difficult decision, and didn't want to be bothered during this time. He, Fang Shijing thought sadly, was always the type of person to bear his struggles alone, instead of sharing them with others.

Fang Shijing looked back at the end of the hallway, at the training room, at the two youths in the midst of a crowd.

This was what Wei Chen had entrusted to him. Blue Rain's future, Blue Rain's dual-core.

The Sword, and the Curse.


	7. Nothing Gold

_Happy New Year! Please enjoy this penultimate chapter of Summer Days of Blue Rain, and leave a comment if you like it!_

 _The dinner scene is **original**_ _(mentioned in the prequel but not explicitly shown); the rest is based off parts from **chapter 6** of the prequel._

* * *

Today, there were many empty seats in Blue Rain's audience section.

It was no secret that Blue Rain's performance had been slipping all season. The reason, too, was clear –everyone grew old eventually, and Blue Rain's ace player was no exception. With the last match of the regular season, Team Blue Rain had just barely clawed their way into eighth place, securing for themselves a spot in the playoffs. But because of the way the playoff bracket was seeded, their opponent for the first round was the team that had finished the regular season in _first_ place.

Team Excellent Era. Champions of Season 1.

Despite the dazzling skill of the newly-joined Hundred Blossoms, and the steadfast strong performance of Tyranny, Excellent Era had led the League rankings for the entirety of Season 2. And now, these powerhouse champions were to be the opponents of the struggling Blue Rain in the very first round of the playoffs.

Even the most loyal of fans spoke of a Blue Rain victory like a miracle.

Each playoff match consisted of two games, one home and one away. Blue Rain's home game a few days ago had ended in their brutal loss. And though it was still technically possible for them to win enough points in this away game to defeat Excellent Era, for most people, Season 2 had ended as far as Blue Rain was concerned.

But, even if many seats were empty, there were still some loyal Blue Rain supporters here today to watch their away game against Excellent Era.

"Ye Qiu is nothing!" A sudden yell came from the Blue Rain audience section, prompting confused looks from other fans. The statement was so ridiculously brash that even as devoted Blue Rain fans, they couldn't throw their support behind it. When they saw who it was from, though, they smiled. It was just a kid, and you really had to admire this kid's bravery and passion.

They'd seen this kid at Blue Rain's home game, too. Apparently he was from the training camp, the self-proclaimed future ace of Blue Rain – a ridiculous and silly claim, but the fans couldn't dislike him. After all, they were Blue Rain's fans, and they couldn't dislike anyone who had such raw passion for their team.

Sitting next to him was another, much quieter youth, whom they had also seen at the home game. Today, as he wrote in his notebook, he appeared even more focused on the battle than he had during the first game. Whispers said that he was also from Blue Rain's training camp.

He was probably scared that Blue Rain would be eliminated today. The fans couldn't help but feel a little pity for this silent youth. If not for fear of disturbing him, some might have even gone up to offer a few words of comfort.

* * *

Huang Shaotian, of course, couldn't care less about what the people around him thought about his yelling. "It's just some stupid Battle Mage, so what? Slaughter him! Defeat Excellent Era!" The last part was almost a scream.

Eventually, though, he did take a pause, and turned to the boy beside him. "Oi, what do you think about this?"

Yu Wenzhou's breath still caught every time Huang Shaotian just casually asked for his opinion, but he was slowly getting used to it. "There is a chance," he replied steadily. "There is always a chance. Until the battle ends, nothing is for certain."

He fell into silence as he studied his notebook. He was, despite his calm response, anxiously scanning his notes on past battles. There _had_ to be something useful, some kind of clue toward a strategy that Blue Rain could leverage toward a victory. Though he might not be as outwardly passionate as Huang Shaotian, he still didn't want to see his team lose.

He flipped through page after page of writing, but came out of it empty-handed. The current disparity between Excellent Era and Blue Rain was so large, he concluded, that only conceivable way they could win would be for Excellent Era to blunder. Despite his achievements, Ye Qiu was still human, and no human was infallible. Indeed, Yu Wenzhou's notebook contained thorough analysis of the errors he had noticed while watching their matches.

But Ye Qiu was very skilled at detecting his own and his team's mistakes. Before his opponent could take advantage of an opening caused by a mistake, he already would have already rushed to cover it. Many times, the opponent didn't even have the chance to see the opening in the first place.

His technique. His awareness. His experience. His reaction. His handspeed. The more Yu Wenzhou studied Ye Qiu, the more frightening this player seemed. If the evidence hadn't been right in front of him, Yu Wenzhou wouldn't have believed that such a perfect player could even exist.

He glanced at Huang Shaotian. The boy had stopped yelling, but all his emotion was right there in his posture – his clenched fists, his gritted teeth, his fierce eyes. No matter what anyone else said, he still believed in Blue Rain. He refused to give up hope.

"But it would be very, very difficult," Yu Wenzhou finished quietly, turning back to the match. That was an understatement, really – the chances of Excellent Era committing a game-costing mistake were effectively zero.

There would be no miracle for Blue Rain that day.

* * *

Blue Rain lost, and it wasn't pretty. All four of the first-round playoff games took place at the same time, and this one had finished the fastest.

The Excellent Era fans' celebrations were rather subdued. All analyses had predicted their victory, so there wasn't much reason to be especially excited. Similarly, although Blue Rain's fans were disappointed, they had expected this outcome.

But that talkative youth still refused to give it a rest. "Useless old bastard!" he was yelling. "Couldn't even beat Ye Qiu, what the hell are you doing?"

What an obnoxious brat. The fans within earshot suddenly found him less cute than before. True, Blue Rain had lost by a large margin, but the team members had fought to their fullest. Especially Captain Wei Chen, who, despite his worsening condition, had brought out his full strength in this battle.

Blue Rain _had_ put in the effort, the opponent was simply too strong! To blame the hardworking players like this, it was frankly disrespectful.

"Kid, don't go talking nonsense," someone said, finally fed up. Others spoke up as well.

"Captain Wei Chen's performance was already very good."

"It's thanks to his leadership that no one underestimates Blue Rain. Excellent Era had to struggle to defeat him today."

"There's always next season!"

The youth finally fell silent, and some of the fans wondered if they had been too harsh on him. He was, after all, just a kid.

* * *

None of the fans had really grasped the essence of why Huang Shaotian was so upset.

Obviously, he knew that Ye Qiu and Excellent Era were strong. The task that Old Wei had before him was an impossible one. Still, despite logic telling him otherwise, he had hoped to see him succeed.

Because he knew that this might be Old Wei's last time onstage.

Blue Rain would have a next season. But a few days ago, Huang Shaotian had ducked behind a doorway and overheard the horrid truth from the quiet voices of the club managers – Wei Chen was making preparations for retirement after this season.

He hadn't wanted to accept it, but this was the reality. This battle had been Old Wei's last shot at victory, and so, Huang Shaotian had hoped beyond hope that he would win. But in the end, he had only been met with a crushing defeat.

The unfairness of it all stung Huang Shaotian. Yes, this was the competitive scene, with winners and losers. But Old Wei… he deserved a better ending than this.

Huang Shaotian insulted Wei Chen regularly, but that was just his way of showing affection to the old man. He was very much aware that if Old Wei hadn't discovered his potential in-game and personally invited him to the training camp, he wouldn't be where he was today.

Huang Shaotian knew that he could be annoying with his talkative habits, but through it all, Old Wei had been there for him. Between all his responsibilities as Blue Rain's captain, Old Wei had always found time to joke with him, listen to his chatter, offer him advice and gruff encouragement. No one had ever cared for him or helped him to the same extent that this man had, and Huang Shaotian, in his heart, was grateful beyond what words could express.

He watched as Blue Rain's players walked onstage to thank the crowd. Captain Wei Chen was among them, but he was walking slower than the others, inadvertently widening the gap between himself and the rest of the team. He seemed to be lost in his thoughts.

Once he stood onstage, Wei Chen reached into his pocket and lit a cigarette, taking a drag. Immediately, he was surrounded by security guards. Upon refusing to extinguish the cigarette, he was respectfully but firmly escorted off the stage. Surrounded by the guards, he raised a hand and waved cheerfully at Blue Rain's audience section before vanishing into the player-only areas.

It was a comical scene, and the spectators were all laughing. Huang Shaotian cracked a smile, too, but the tears that were now spilling down his cheeks told the real story of his emotions.

* * *

After Team Blue Rain returned home, Captain Wei Chen took them all out to dinner, to one of their favorite restaurants, which served all the classic dishes of City G. Even aside from the incredible quality of food, it was really quite a nice place – mahogany furniture, gold-colored tablecloths, decorative embellishments, warm lighting.

They got a private room in the back. The atmosphere was somewhat somber at first, which was natural, given their recent, stinging loss. But with all the good food and drink, and in the presence of friends, the mood gradually lightened until everyone was laughing and joking around.

"-remember when we beat Tiny Herb though, that was epic-"

"-can you imagine? Forty-seven seconds-"

"-they fucking wrecked you in that match, you better not let that happen again-"

"-that 1v3 though-"

"-god I wish I'd seen the look on his face-"

"-I swear next season will be better-"

"-who knows what'll happen-"

"-next season."

And Wei Chen downed drink after drink, and laughed right along with them. Sitting next to him, several times Fang Shijing looked like he wanted to say something, but he appeared to change his mind each time, with a helpless smile and a shake of his head.

Steadily, as the night wore on, the dishes were emptied and cleared. As everyone continued chatting, Wei Chen quietly paid the bill in full, then cleared his throat.

"Everyone…" He hadn't said much thus far, hadn't made a speech or anything to them, so at his voice, the table immediately quieted down.

They all turned expectant gazes on him, and Wei Chen, unexpectedly, felt himself freeze.

He hadn't even officially announced his retirement to them yet. How was he supposed to go about it? Damn it, there was so much to say to these people, his family.

Goodbye. Thank you for letting me lead you, thank you for all your hard work. I'm happy I was able to fight by your sides. May you bring Blue Rain to glory.

But the words caught in his throat, and none of that found its way to his lips. In the end, all he said were two words.

"I'm leaving."

With that, he shouldered his bag and left the restaurant.

He had already made his preparations with the Blue Rain managers – they had invited him to stay on as a coach, which he had declined; he refused to feel like a useless, washed-up old fool. He had cleared his few belongings from his room and left behind Swoksaar's account card. All that was left to do was depart, cleanly and completely.

And he… he was never good with farewells.

* * *

At long last, the Season 2 finals arrived – Excellent Era versus Tyranny.

Many Blue Rain members had already gone home after their team's elimination, but those that remained travelled together to watch the finals in person. After all, a proplayer was a Glory fan at heart, and the season finals were a must-watch for any Glory fan.

But amongst the raucous audience of Excellent Era's and Tyranny's respective fans, there was a bubble of silence where Blue Rain was sitting. Even the ever-talkative Huang Shaotian watched the match in silence, with an obvious air of melancholy that even the riveting action onscreen couldn't shake.

Fang Shijing sat next to him. Seeing the youth's morose countenance, he felt another stab of dissatisfaction at Wei Chen. This guy…

When Wei Chen had made that announcement at the dinner, "I'm leaving," the team members had, at first, thought that he just meant leaving the dinner to go home. It had taken Fang Shijing a full thirty seconds after the door had closed to realize that, wait, that wasn't what his friend meant, was it – there was no way he would just – but he would, wouldn't he?

By the time he had frantically rushed outside – to chase him, yell at him, he didn't even know – Wei Chen had completely vanished. Evaporated, like rainwater on a warm summer day.

The confused team members clamored for an explanation after Fang Shijing returned inside, and he could only say, "I think… that was his way of announcing his retirement." Confusion turned to shock, and then grief.

By the time Blue Rain made the official public announcement about their captain's retirement, said captain was already long gone. And Fang Shijing had desperately tried to get into contact with him, to try and talk some _sense_ into him, but to no avail.

QQ messages? Unopened.

Phone calls? Straight to voicemail.

Emails? Ignored.

And his Glory account card, the means by which Fang Shijing had first met him, had been left behind to the club. If Wei Chen continued playing Glory, it would no longer be under the name "Swoksaar."

Damn it, Wei Chen! It's just retirement! Do you really need to be like this?

And a quieter, more bitter voice: We were friends for how many years? And you just abandon us like that? …Abandon _me_?

It hurt, because they were friends. But because they were friends, Fang Shijing understood why Wei Chen acted this way. He loved Blue Rain too much. He had to cut off all contact, or else he feared his resolution would waver and he would go back on the decision that he had hardened his heart to make.

But – even so! How Fang Shijing wished he could grab his friend by the shoulders and shake him until he saw reason.

So what if you change your mind?

So what if you go back on your decision?

It's just retirement! Do you really need to be like this?

Upon thinking of the pain Wei Chen must have felt in making this ruthless decision, Fang Shijing felt his heart hurt as well. As for the rest of the team, they had reacted to the news with sadness, but most of them had since taken it in stride. They all knew Wei Chen's declining condition, and his retirement didn't come as a great shock. Blue Rain would continue on.

But Huang Shaotian… He had spent several days raging, and at the end of that period, he sunk into this rare, depressive silence, from which he still hadn't emerged. Fang Shijing worried about him, worried about his mental state, but didn't know what he should do or say to help.

Besides, Fang Shijing had plenty of other things to worry about, and he once again cursed Wei Chen for simply vanishing into the night. The old captain had, before his abrupt departure, left a letter with the club, and the club was respecting his final wishes. This included making Fang Shijing Blue Rain's new captain, giving him all the associated responsibilities. As for Blue Rain's roster next season, Wei Chen wrote to allow Fang Shijing to "decide, as appropriate."

Vague phrasing, but the meaning was clear. Should he allow these two kids to register for battle next season?

Fang Shijing grimaced. What was he supposed to do? How was he supposed to decide? Wei Chen…

"Shaotian!" Finally, he opened his mouth to get the youth's attention. But at this moment, Huang Shaotian suddenly jumped up. Ignoring the looks of everyone around him, he stood upright on his seat and stabbed a finger at the battle below.

"Old man!" he hollered. "You can go die in peace! I swear, I will take revenge for you!"

With that, he hopped back into his seat as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. "Study closely," he told Yu Wenzhou, who was sitting on his other side. "Figure out how to kill them."

Yu Wenzhou only shook his head. "Not enough strength. Without solving that basic problem, no amount of study will do anything."

"Who are you saying doesn't have enough strength?"

"You. Me." As he spoke, Yu Wenzhou glanced at Fang Shijing.

"Hey, don't look at me," said Fang Shijing, putting his hands in the air. "The future depends on you."

"Exactly. It has to be in the future," said Yu Wenzhou.

"…The future…" Huang Shaotian murmured. He really wasn't as arrogant as his trash-talk made him seem. After all, he had lost to Wei Chen in practice matches countless times, and, in turn, seen Wei Chen harshly defeated in these professional battles.

Not strong enough.

This was the unforgiving truth, dangling in front of him. Ever since that Excellent Era versus Hundred Blossoms match and Yu Wenzhou's pointed commentary, he'd seen this truth over and over again. Huang Shaotian stood out in a crowd of rookies, true. But he knew he was far from ready to stand on that stage and fight on equal footing with gods.

"One year," he said, suddenly.

"What?" Over the roaring of the crowd, Fang Shijing missed Huang Shaotian's uncharacteristically quiet statement.

"Give me one more year to train." The youth glared at the stage below, at the two powerhouses currently in the thick of battle, at the two gods in the midst of it all. Excellent Era and Tyranny. One Autumn Leaf and Desert Dust. "After a year, we'll fight. Then we'll see who comes out the victor."

Fang Shijing paused, then nodded. "Alright, one year." He looked at Huang Shaotian, then looked at Yu Wenzhou. After one year, where would these two youths lead Blue Rain?

He hoped that Wei Chen, no matter where he was, would be watching.


	8. Inheritance

_notes: This is the final chapter! The first scene (letter) and last scene (conversation) are **original** , the rest is adapted from **prequel** **chapter 8.**_

 _(About one year has passed since the end of the last chapter.)_

* * *

 _WC-_

 _After a year, your whereabouts remain unknown to me, and so this message, like the others I have written, will likely never reach your eyes. I suppose I'm still foolishly holding out hope that after I retire, you will no longer have a reason to avoid me, and we can talk and laugh like the old times._

 _I'm sure you keep updated on the Glory pro scene news, so I'm sure you saw that Blue Rain failed to make playoffs this year. The club had all but told me to give up on the League battles this season, and instead prioritize raising those two youths. I did my best on both fronts; I don't want to make excuses. Still, I feel that I failed you, and I hope that you may forgive me._

 _I know that I will go down in Glory's history as a mere placeholder, Blue Rain's weakest captain – that is, if I am lucky enough to be remembered at all._

 _But history_ will _remember the names of Yu Wenzhou and Huang Shaotian. Of that, I am sure._

 _Over the course of this past year, I have watched them grow into skilled players capable of facing any challenge on the professional stage. Each season thus far has brought new and incredible rookies to the stage – Season 2 saw Hundred Blossoms' Blood and Blossoms, Season 3 saw Tiny Herb's Magician. Although I don't know what the other teams have in store, I know that our rookies, Blue Rain's dual-core, will earn a name for themselves in Season 4._

 _They really are quite remarkable. I have played only a small role in helping them develop; most of their growth has been self-driven, a result of their own innate aptitude and determination. Still, even though it will never be widely known, my role in building Blue Rain's future is something I will carry close to my heart._

 _For me, this is enough._

 _-FSJ_

* * *

"Hey Wenzhou, can I borrow a pen?"

Yu Wenzhou, who was in the middle of watching a match recording, wordlessly passed one over without looking away from his screen.

"Oi, listen to this. _Season 3 Playoffs: The Magician's Arrival!_ " Huang Shaotian read, in a dramatic voice, the front-page headline of the latest edition of _E-Sports Weekly_. "Magician this, Magician that. With how much they talk about him, you'd think that there wasn't a single other player in the playoffs this year…"

This caught Yu Wenzhou's attention, as he was, in fact, currently studying one of Team Tiny Herb's recent matches. "Could you let me look at that after you?" Yu Wenzhou asked.

"Sure. Oh, and here's your pen back, too." After handing them over, Huang Shaotian stretched his arms, tucked his hands behind his head, and leaned back in his chair with a sigh. "I can't believe that guy got so good so fast. Remember when we met him, I thought he was all talk back then, but I guess he really has some skill, to become captain and use a god-level account in his debut year. That was the only change in Tiny Herb's roster this season, and that alone bumped them up to third in the regular season. Of course, we're still gonna kick his ass when we meet next season…"

As he listened to and filtered through Huang Shaotian's chatter, Yu Wenzhou scanned the newspaper article. He didn't comment on the "o_0" scrawled over Wang Jiexi's face; this wasn't the first time.

Yu Wenzhou remembered, of course, the youth from Tiny Herb with mismatched eyes, whom he and Huang Shaotian had met during the Excellent Era versus Hundred Blossoms match in Season 2. Back then, even though their conversation was short, Yu Wenzhou remembered feeling that this Wang Jiexi would make a formidable opponent.

With his debut in Season 3, Wang Jiexi had directly become Tiny Herb's captain and user of their powerful core character, the Witch Vaccaria. Initially regarded as a challenger, by the end of the season, he was called a conqueror. His unpredictable, inimitable playstyle earned him the nickname "Magician," and he defeated pro after skilled pro as the season progressed. Fans speculated that Tiny Herb would be the ones to finally dethrone the 2-time defending champions, Team Excellent Era.

There wasn't too much in the article that Yu Wenzhou didn't already know. After finishing, he merely said, "Wang Jiexi was certainly the standout rookie of the year, with that unique Magician playstyle of his."

"You… Is that all you have to say?" Huang Shaotian seemed dissatisfied by this bland response.

"I remember when we met him, you two agreed to meet onstage this season. Are you upset that you had to break that agreement?"

"Yeah, a little, maybe. But it can't be helped." Huang Shaotian let out a sigh and sat up straight in his chair again, fixing him with a stare. "Got any good analysis on him? Insight on how to counter him?"

"He-" But Yu Wenzhou had hardly gotten that single word out before the door to the training room slammed open, and one of the new trainees tumbled inside.

"Shaotian! The tech team just completed a silver weapon for Troubling Rain! Captain wants you to go look!"

"What? Holy shit, seriously?" Huang Shaotian's eyes got comically wide, and he leapt out of his chair. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go let's go let's go!" he yelled, charging out of the room, completely forgetting about the question he had asked Yu Wenzhou.

Yu Wenzhou only smiled and shook his head. He was about to go back to watching his video, but the trainee that had called Huang Shaotian spoke again.

"Wenzhou, aren't you going too? They're saying that they only managed to complete this silver weapon because a mysterious player sent a whole lot of rare materials to Blue Brook Guild!"

Hearing that, Yu Wenzhou froze. "A mysterious player?"

"Yeah," the trainee confirmed. "Someone in-game, they don't know who."

Yu Wenzhou's gaze drifted across the training room, landing upon that one computer that hadn't been touched in almost a year.

After their former captain had made that simple announcement of "I'm leaving," the seat he had used was left empty, his computer left idle. The Blue Rain members reached a tacit agreement that no one would touch his spot, as though hoping that one day, as suddenly as he had left, that man would return and take his place once more.

 _But… you haven't really left, have you_.

Many times over the past year, Yu Wenzhou had replayed the events of that fateful day, when he had defeated Wei Chen in three consecutive matches. That had been a turning point in his life, marking the start of when people began to recognize his Glory ability.

During the battles, Yu Wenzhou had known, in some corner of his brain, that there would be consequences to what he was doing. But at the time, he had disregarded those worries. He had been caught up in the thrill of battle and the fierce determination to prove his worth, once and for all. It wasn't until later on that he realized the full extent of the psychological impact his victories must have had on the former captain. Wei Chen was the type of person to hide behind laughter and boisterous scolding, but his emotions were still very much real.

To feel your abilities slipping away through professional battles. To hear the media's analysis of your apparent aging. And then one day, during an ordinary practice evaluation, to be defeated three times in a row by some nameless youth who was deemed to have no hope of ever making it to the pro scene.

Of course, he didn't know how much those defeats had factored into Wei Chen's decision to leave. Perhaps he would have retired after this season anyway; it was impossible to know. But still…

Looking back at that day, Yu Wenzhou knew that he had been selfish, and the tiniest bit vindictive. The right thing to do would have been to throw the last match and leave the captain's pride intact – damaged, but intact. But after many sleepless nights of thinking, Yu Wenzhou concluded that if he had the option to go back, he would do the same thing all over again.

Did that make him a bad person? He didn't know.

 _…I'm sorry, Captain Wei_.

"Wenzhou, are you coming or not?" The trainee's impatient voice cut into his melancholy thoughts.

"I'm coming," Yu Wenzhou answered, gathering his notebook and pen. The trainee was leaning against the door as he waited, and Yu Wenzhou noticed that he was fiddling with something in his right hand, fingers moving restlessly.

"Is that a Rubik's cube?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh yeah." The trainee held it out for Yu Wenzhou to see. His fingers didn't stop moving as he continued to nimbly twist the edges with casual flicks. Although he was only holding it in one hand, he didn't drop it, and a few seconds later, the cube was solved.

"You have a high handspeed," Yu Wenzhou noted, impressed by the display.

The trainee stuffed the cube in his pocket. "That's something I'd rather discuss with Shaotian…"

Yu Wenzhou chuckled; he was well known within Blue Rain for his inescapably slow handspeed. Of course, by now, no one would think to mock him for it. Despite this handicap, he still won many matches, demonstrating remarkable talent that was more than enough to make up for his weakness.

As for this trainee, he wasn't really insulting Yu Wenzhou with that comment; he was simply the mischievous type. Captain Fang Shijing had mentioned that he liked this trainee's style; Yu Wenzhou suspected that this was a major reason for his recruiting this youth from the Challenger League into the Blue Rain training camp.

However, even just considering raw skill and potential, there was nothing to criticize about Captain Fang Shijing's choice. In fact, if they only took his right hand into account, this trainee's APM was even higher than Shaotian's.

Yu Wenzhou didn't otherwise respond to the trainee's teasing, and simply stepped out of the room. "Let's go, Fang Rui," he said, and the two of them made their way down the hallway.

* * *

For any professional team, the technical department was the most heavily guarded secret area. Information on how the team's silver equipment was developed, or the specifics of their stats, could not under any circumstances be allowed to leak to the public.

After Wei Chen pulled the prodigy Huang Shaotian into Blue Rain's training camp, Blue Rain's technical team gained a new top priority – developing the silver equipment for Huang Shaotian's Blade Master, Troubling Rain.

And today, they completed the most important piece of this most important work.

A silver weapon. A self-made weapon from the equipment editor, specially made for Troubling Rain, specially tailored to Huang Shaotian's playstyle.

This wasn't something that an ordinary Glory player could have made by just throwing together rare materials in the editor. Most silver weapons made by ordinary players weren't any different from normal weapons. But this was a _true_ silver weapon, one that elevated its user's stats far beyond what any normal weapon could hope to accomplish.

When Yu Wenzhou and Fang Rui entered, they found the room completely silent. Everyone was crowded around one computer, and most didn't even bother to look up at the sound of their entrance. With effort, Yu Wenzhou maneuvered through the crowd to a vantage point from which he could see the screen.

The screen displayed this precious weapon – a light saber, slowly rotating. The blade looked like a crystal raindrop, elongated and sharpened; it glowed with threads of pale blue light and wisps of mist. The hilt was silver, a graceful swirl, coated with just the faintest patterning of white frost. At the top of the screen was the weapon's name: Ice Rain.

This was a work of art, elegant and deadly.

This was the weapon that would raise Troubling Rain to godhood.

Yu Wenzhou stared at that stunning weapon for an indeterminable amount of time. The silence in the room was finally broken by Huang Shaotian, who, despite his talkative mouth, had only one word to say.

"Amazing."

Standing right beside him, Captain Fang Shijing said to him, "Try it out."

Huang Shaotian nodded sharply. In a flurry of movement, he equipped the weapon on his character and entered a match in the Arena.

No one paid attention to his poor opponent; they only saw the flashes of blue from the sword in Troubling Rain's hand. They watched it dance, jump, kill. Blood droplets scattered across the ground as his opponent fell.

"This is fantastic!" Huang Shaotian's talkative self was finally back, and he jumped up onto his chair. "With him, next season I'll give them a show! What Battle God, King of Fighting, Blood and Blossoms, Magician… Just you all wait!"

"Alright!" No one moved to stop Huang Shaotian's excited movement. All of the Blue Rain members, staff and players alike, had been awaiting this day for a long time.

This season, Wei Chen had retired and Blue Rain hadn't even made it to the playoffs. To outsiders, it seemed as though this team's days of being a powerhouse were over, that they were now fading from the spotlight.

But no one within the team believed this.

Even if their record this season was poor, even if they were forgotten this summer. No matter what, they had faith that Blue Rain would have an era that belonged to them. And this era, with the birth of this silver weapon, was about to begin.

"It's up to you, Shaotian!" one of the technical workers said, and others immediately voiced their agreement.

"Do you even need to say that? Of course!" said Huang Shaotian. But just that one battle wasn't enough for him to fully try out this new weapon. He quickly sat back in his chair and entered a new battle, this time chattering away at the tech workers sitting near him as he experimented with his new capabilities.

By this time, Captain Fang Shijing had quietly made his way through the crowd to stand by Yu Wenzhou.

"Are you ready?" he asked, abruptly.

Yu Wenzhou turned to look at him. But Fang Shijing was staring out the window, gazing at that brilliant blue sky beyond.

"Yes," answered Yu Wenzhou, calm and sure.

"Then it's time to entrust this to you." As he spoke, Fang Shijing's gaze shifted down to his hand, and the account card it held. Without fanfare, this card was passed to its new owner.

"From today on, you are the captain of Team Blue Rain, user of the Warlock Swoksaar." Fang Shijing smiled, eyes filled with hope. "You will do well. For all of us, bring Blue Rain to glory."

* * *

That evening, as Yu Wenzhou sat writing at his desk in his room, there came knocking – well, more accurately, banging – at his door. "Come in," he called.

Huang Shaotian entered, letting the door click shut behind him as he came to stand by Yu Wenzhou. He cleared a space on his desk, then hopped to perch on the edge of it, dangling his feet above the ground.

"I saw Captain Fang talking to you today," he began, without preamble. "Did he…?"

"Did he what?" asked Yu Wenzhou, meeting his gaze calmly. He had to tilt his head up a bit to look at him properly, but this wasn't the first time Huang Shaotian had barged into his room like this and claimed his desk as a chair.

Huang Shaotian huffed. "You know what I'm talking about." From a pocket, he produced an account card and tapped it onto the desk. "Come on, Wenzhou, let's see it let's see it!"

Yu Wenzhou obliged, removing the account card he had been given that day and setting it on the desk next to Huang Shaotian's. "I don't know what you're expecting to see," he said, a note of amusement in his voice. "It looks just like any another account card."

"Yeah, but it's the spirit of the matter, you know?" Huang Shaotian reached out and ran his finger over the name on Yu Wenzhou's card – Swoksaar. "Man, I never asked Captain Fang, but Old Wei _never_ let me touch his card. Said I'd probably break it. How does it feel to inherit a god-level account, huh?"

Yu Wenzhou hummed. "A lot to live up to, I suppose. But," he tapped the other card, Troubling Rain, "you have a god-level of your own now, too."

Huang Shaotian's eyes lit up at the reminder. "Shit, you have no idea. With that new weapon, I feel like I've been reborn, I can take on anything. It's incredible. It's the most incredible thing I've felt in my entire life."

"I'm glad to hear that, Shaotian."

"Come on, you can pretend to be more excited than that!" Huang Shaotian said, poking him. "But wait, so then, if Captain Fang gave you that today – we have no more battles this season, what's he planning to do?"

"He's announcing his retirement at the Blue Rain end-of-season press conference in a few days," replied Yu Wenzhou.

"And you'll be our new captain?"

Yu Wenzhou hesitated for just the barest moment before nodding.

"Captain, huh. Captain Yu Wenzhou." Huang Shaotian tested the sound of the words, and nodded. "I like it, I can get used to calling you that. The club made a very wise choice, making you captain."

"You-" Yu Wenzhou's voice broke; he coughed and tried again. "I thought – Did you not want captaincy yourself?"

"What? No, not at all," Huang Shaotian replied vehemently. "You're smart and nice and responsible and a good leader, you'd do a much better job of it than me. Let me just cut things up and PKPKPK!" He emphasized the last shout with a punch to the air, which earned a short laugh from his friend.

But looking at Yu Wenzhou's expression just then, those faint lines of worry, and almost fear… Another thought came to his mind, one that he couldn't just ignore. At this point, he trusted his partner implicitly, but back then…

"What's up?" asked Yu Wenzhou, looking at him. Huang Shaotian blinked, realizing that he had spaced out, letting an uncharacteristic silence grow between them.

"Ah…" He almost brushed it off as nothing, but… this was something that he needed to say. "I'm sorry for how I acted during training camp," he said, quietly. "I know that I was a jerk, and a lot of what I said to you was incredibly rude and really uncalled for, and I – I didn't realize it at the time. I'm sorry."

"Mm…" Caught off guard by the statement, Yu Wenzhou seemed unsure of how to respond. After a few moments of silence, he said, "It hurt, sometimes. But I forgive you."

He began fiddling with Swoksaar's account card on the desk. "I wasn't the nicest to you back then, either. But you've changed a lot over these past two years, as have I. In a good way. You've made up for your past behavior. And, overall," he tapped Swoksaar's card on top of Troubling Rain's, "I'm glad to be able to work with you."

Huang Shaotian swallowed. "I… thanks, Wenzhou." It was probably more generous than he deserved.

Yu Wenzhou studied him for a moment, then added, "You're vice-captain next season, by the way."

"Wait, really?" That made Huang Shaotian perk up.

"Captain Fang was going to tell you today, too, but you were caught up in testing out your silver weapon."

"Oh. Whoops." Huang Shaotian laughed sheepishly. "But this is good, I like this arrangement. Swoksaar and Troubling Rain! The two gods of Blue Rain! The dual-core of Blue Rain!" He paused. "We need a good catchphrase for our fans to shout, you know?"

"I'm sure that will come in time, if we earn it."

"What do you mean 'if', of course we will!" Huang Shaotian hopped off the desk to stand up tall, raising an imaginary sword to the air. "Our combination will be unstoppable! Those Glory pros won't know what hit them! If not this summer, then next summer, or the one after that – those championships will belong to our Blue Rain, and we'll be the ones to make it happen! Right, Captain?"

Huang Shaotian had been making this passionate speech at no one in particular, but at that last question, he turned to look at his companion.

With a start, he realized that Yu Wenzhou was smiling – not that polite and patient and placid smile he always wore, but a _real_ smile, one that showed real happiness. Huang Shaotian could probably count the number of times he'd seen him smile like this on one hand, which was a shame, because it really was a nice smile.

"That's right." And Yu Wenzhou smiled at him, with that wonderfully genuine smile, and Huang Shaotian felt himself grinning even wider.

"We will have many, many summer days of Blue Rain."

* * *

 _end notes:_

 _At its core, Blue Rain is a team of hope. 我们还有很多个属于蓝雨的夏天._

 _This is the longest project I have ever finished, and I'm very proud of it. If you enjoyed reading this, please leave a review!_


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